


A Day in the Life...

by Scribe32oz



Series: Seven Scrolls [25]
Category: The Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: Action & Romance, Brotherhood, Canon-Typical Violence, Comedy, Drama, Ensemble Cast, F/M, Humor, Interracial Relationship, Loss of Virginity, Murder Mystery, Novella, Pregnancy, Series, Thriller, Western, estabished relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2019-02-10 07:26:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 89,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12907068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scribe32oz/pseuds/Scribe32oz
Summary: A peaceful day in Four Corners sees the seven facing dangers more perilous than any outlaw when they are forced to deal with their private lives. Chris Larabee is dragged off to go baby shopping, Buck Wilmington fighting off the attentions of an old girlfriend while JD Dunne discovers that sewing wild oats is not all its cracked up to be....





	1. Plans and Preparations

**Author's Note:**

> There's only one explicit scene and that's the one involving JD.

 

Chris Larabee was not a happy man.

Normally that, which did make him happy, usually engendered a reaction which went to the root of the problem for immediate removal. This usually meant that he either shot at it or he allowed himself to get so blind stinking drunk that the problem soon went beyond his caring, hence indirectly taken of for the moment. Unfortunately, he now found himself in a situation where those two easy solutions were no longer possible. It was so much simpler in the old days when he could just walk way from any situation that made him uncomfortable or ended any discourse with the infamous Larabee glare.

Of course things had changed considerably for him now and the reputation of being the bad element still kept away the people who would give him trouble so he rarely had to go out of his way to fend it off. On the rare occasions that he was forced to take action, he ensured that the unpleasantness did not revisit him in the future which was just as well because he now had a wife and son to consider, not mentioning a baby on the way. Although as much as he hated to admit it, there was not an enemy he had faced or fought in recent years who was capable of causing as much trouble as the woman who was facing him right now, waiting for an answer.

"But I ought to stay here and keep an eye on Billy." Chris implored his wife as he sat at the kitchen table shortly after breakfast, watching her get ready to leave the house, aware that she had every expectation that he would be accompanying her on her trip out of town. Not if he could help it, he thought to himself.

"Billy is spending the day with Lilith, Chris." Mary shifted her gaze briefly from the hall room mirror where she was adjusting her hat and stared at him. This conversation was starting to get tiresome and she waiting to see how many excuses he would throw up at her before he gave up and just came with her. It was not as if he had a choice in the matter. "There is no reason for you to stay in town. Most of the others are going to be here, the jailhouse is empty as you said and I would like you to accompany me because I’ll need a hand to carry all the stuff I’m buying."

"But you’re taking Homer and the wagon," he insisted, hoping to stall her long enough to find the argument that he could use to stay home without getting her upset. Unfortunately, it appeared that he was fast running out of options. "You won’t need me there with you."

"Chris," she stared at him impatiently, folding her arms and taking on the stance that showed him that she was readying for a fight. "There was a time when you would not let me leave town without insisting on coming with me. What appears to have changed now?’

"Well I knocked you up," he teased. "No one’s gonna want you now."

Mary gave him a dark look and then narrowed her eyes before turning away. She let out a sigh and then faced him again. It just looked like she was going to have to pull out the big guns. Her lips curled outward in a familiar pout she knew he could not stand. "I suppose I could go to Sweet Water myself, after all I supposed I won’t be the first pregnant woman to do that because her husband is too  _insensitive_  to come along."

Chris let out a visible groan because she was playing dirty. Worse yet, it was  _working_. "Aw hell Mary," he complained. "I ain’t got no problem going with you to Sweet Water but I don’t want to go shopping with you. I mean you spend three hours at just one store the last time we went!" He cried exasperated, remembering what torture that was.

"How would you know?" Mary walked down the hall with her hands on her hips, asking. "You spend all of it in the saloon!" She retaliated.

"Yes I did," Chris was unafraid to admit that because it was perfectly true and for good reason too. "But only because the guy selling you the shoes needing a drink after all that. You tried about every pair in the place. You know it would not be so bad if you just admitted that your feet are a size larger."

Mary’s mouth dropped open in outrage. "My feet are not bigger, they’ve been the same size since I was sixteen." She exclaimed in indignant fury.

Chris looked at her with a perfectly straight face. "Sure they are."

"At least I don’t try to squeeze into jeans that are three sizes too small for me. Talk about denial." She snorted in return, unprepared to let him get away with that insinuation. Of course, she did not add that while his jeans might be too tight but there was not a woman in Four Corners who had a problem with it and should he suddenly stop wearing them, Mary was sure she would be lynched as a result.

"I ain’t in no denial." Chris replied hotly, incensed that she would resort to such an outright lie. His jeans were just the right size and knew she was only saying that because she wanted to get back at him for her having big feet. His jeans were snug but comfortable and he was not about to wear anything different just because she could not admit her shoe size had changed.

"Whatever," she shrugged and turned away from him, clearly unimpressed with him at all today by the expression on her face and that opinion did not look as if it was going to change any time soon. "You know, if you won’t come with me, I’m sure Buck will. I mean, he was following Inez around during her entire pregnancy, wanting to be involved with every aspect of it. I suppose  _some_  men are just interested in the developing welfare of their child."

That  _rat bastard_   Wilmington, Chris swore under his breath.

Chris just knew that his old friend dogging Inez during her pregnancy was going to come back and be a haunt someone. Why did it have to be him? Thanks to his Buck, he was now trapped in a corner and she knew it too. He was also perfectly aware that just to make him squirm, Chris knew Mary would not be not above asking Buck to take her to Sweet Water to do her shopping. And Buck would do it too because he was big, dumb helpful ass and would make Chris look like a bastard if he could not even take his pregnant wife out for the day.

There was no God and if there was, he was having a great deal of amusement at Chris’ expense.

"All right," Chris let out a loud groan of capitulation and grabbed his hat from the corner of the chair where it hung. "I’ll take you already."

"I don’t know whether I want to go with you now." Mary turned away miffed, pretending to be difficult just to drive the dagger another inch deeper. Hey, she allowed. She was the  _one_  who pregnant not he.

"Don’t push your luck," he growled at her with that no nonsense expression that told Mary that even though she had won, it was in her best interest for the next few hours that she did not put him in an even worse mood because blood could be spilled. As it was, Chris could envision just how charming he was going to be during the next few hours of their trip to Sweet Water. However, he felt no regrets about that because if she was going to resort to blackmail in order to coerce him into going, there was no reason why he could not express his displeasure.

"Oh honey," Mary leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, trying to assuage his foul disposition. A smile of sickening triumph on her face as she did that. "It won’t be so bad." She assured him as she went to grab her basket. "I promise, I won’t take that long."

Chris could only think one thing;

_Women, can’t live with them. Can’t kill them._

* * *

Alexandra Styles looked out the window and saw the sky turning a shade of grey. In the past two years, she had learnt enough about signs in the weather, thanks to the man in her life, that a storm was on its way. Unfortunately, she had no choice but to venture out in it. As she continued gathering the instruments and medicines she would require for the journey she had planned, she glanced out the window again as if needing reassurance that her haste was not without cause. Normally, Nathan Jackson would take care of a trip such as this but Nathan was at this moment, riding towards Eagle Bend preparing to take the most important exam of his life and thus it was left to her to take care of things in his absence.

The message had reached her less than an hour ago and she assumed she was going to be gone overnight. Fortunately, the messenger had ensured that she would be provided with accommodation for the night, so she would not be forced to make the trip home on the very same day. Besides, if she had learnt  _anything_  after being engaged to a tracker for some time, it was how bad a storm was going to be and judging by the way the sky looked, she had no wish to be in it when it finally descended upon her. As Alex put the last of her supplies into the worn, doctor’s bag carried for years by her father and eventually passed onto her, she wished she had been able to tell Vin that she was leaving town.

Vin Tanner was at this moment, making a start on rebuilding the shack that had been burned down recently by an insane militant group when they attacked the ranch. He knew that he wanted to build it in time for their marriage, when they got around to setting a date, whenever that might be. She was in no rush to get married since time seemed to be so short lately and there always appeared to be one crisis or another that postponed their efforts to a later date. Besides, the way his friends had been teasing him on the subject, Alex was certain that Vin was just as sick of answering the question of when the date would be just as she was.

Leaving her bag on top of her examination table for the moment, she hurried up the stairs and ascended into the set of rooms that acted as her home above her clinic. After spending a few minutes ensuring that all the windows and doors upstairs were secured, Alex went to her bedroom and packed a small bag of clothes. Ever since she had travelled to Agnes Doherty’s nearly two years ago and was subsequently caught in the worst rain storm she had ever seen, Alex had made it a point to always pack a set of fresh clothes whenever she left town. Of course, she thought with a smile as she placed a few articles of clothing inside a small carpet bag, that trip was not an entire loss.

When she was certain that she had everything necessary for an overnight trip out of town, Alex grabbed her long cloak and descended the stairs once again, her bag in hand as she returned to her clinic. She made a mental note to stop by the saloon and let Rain know what her plans were as well as for the part time nurse and bartender to give Vin a message as to what her whereabouts would be for the next twenty-four hours. Grabbing her medical bag from the table, she was on her way to the door when suddenly, it swung open and Vin Tanner made his appearance

"Vin!" Alex exclaimed, pleasantly surprised by his arrival. She dropped both her bags on the floor and went to greet him with a warm embrace followed by a soft kiss, which she savoured when she felt his arms holding her close.

"I thought you were going to be working at the ranch." She said breathlessly once she pulled away from him.

"I ran out of nails so I had to come back in," he explained taking note of the packed bags and the fact that she was dressed in travelling clothes. "You going somewhere?"

"Yes," she answered remembering that she could not waste any time if she wanted to beat the storm to her destination. "I’ve got a house call to make at Coventry."

"Coventry?" Vin looked at her, not at all liking the fact that she was going to that place again. The last time Alex had ventured that way; the tyrannical Sheriff Dylan Pierce had arrested her. While they had no idea what had happened to Pierce, Vin did not like to think that Alex would be anywhere in the vicinity of where the man might have been.

"At the local convent." Alex replied, oblivious to his caution as she picked up her bags and started towards the door, expecting him to follow while they continued this discussion on her way to find Phoebe at the livery. "One of the nuns had a bad fall and she has not come out of it yet."

"Don’t they got doctors at Coventry?" Vin asked as he followed her out of the clinic. He hated Alex going off on her own, especially to Coventry, when they had no current intelligence on the whereabouts of Dylan Pierce who had sworn vengeance at Alex, during their last encounter.

"Well thanks to Pierce being gone," Alex answered as she locked the front door to her clinic once Vin was outside with her. "Everyone who didn’t dare to leave while he was there, up and left as soon as they could so no, they don’t have a doctor there. Besides, I’m not going into the town itself, the convent is a few miles out of town."

Vin glanced up at the sky and saw the slight tinge of grey filtering in between the clouds and came to the same conclusion that she did. The weather was about to turn very nasty and it further deepened his concern about her going off on her own considerably. "Alex, the storm is going to be on top of you if you try to go today."

"That’s why I’m rushing cowboy," she said with a confident smile. "I figure if I can get going right now, I might just make it ahead of the weather."

Vin rolled his eyes in exasperation because she was making an extremely optimistic estimation of the storm’s arrival. By his accounting, she would be caught right in the middle of it because she was not that experienced a rider nor did she know any of the trails that could get her to Coventry sooner than later, which really only left one course for him.

"I’m going with you."

Alex paused in mid step and looked at him. "No you’re not." She said firmly and continued walking.

Vin stared after her. "What do you mean I ain’t." He called after her. "Why not?"

"Because I’m going to a nunnery, a place that is not big on men as such." Alex retorted. "Why do you think they came here instead of Bitter Creek or Sweet Water to get a doctor? They wanted a lady doctor."

"I don’t have to go in there," Vin said hotly, somewhat suspicious that she did not want him to go with her. "I just have to go with you. Besides," he cast a glance at the weather. "There ain’t no way you can make it there without getting caught in the storm. Not unless I show you some short cuts."

Alex regarded him a moment, trying to decide if he was trying to help her because he was worried about her welfare or simply because he did not think her capable of making this trip on her own. Not that she would not mind the company but this was a matter of principle and when it came to principle, she knew herself she had the tenacity of a wolverine to prove that she was right. "All right then," she said reluctantly, having an uneasy feeling about this. "If you’re only coming with me because you think I’ll get caught in the storm and not because I can’t get there on my own."

Well actually he did think that but Vin had been in a relationship with a woman long enough to know when was the best time to shut up and this certainly qualified as one of those moments. "Sure thing darling." He said with his best ability to tell a lie.

Alex started walking again and then remarked with a smile as he felt into stride with her and liberated her of one of her bags. "You know the last time we went out like this, you remember what happened?"

Vin could not help smiling at the memory of those three days they had been trapped in the wilderness struggling to get back to town only to discover that returning to Four Corners had changed everything between the two of them. They had travelled to Agnes Doherty’s place as adversaries with unspoken affection and when they had returned, neither could imagine being with anyone else. "Yeah," Vin said slipping his arm around her waist. "We couldn’t get into any more trouble than we did then."

"Well it wasn’t all that bad." She said with a smile as he pulled her closer and she kissed him once more. "If I recall correctly, the idea of cabin with just you and me was not so bad after all." Alex gave him a suggestive wink.

"Ain’t gonna be much of that going on at a convent." Vin pointed out

"Tell me about it," Alex sighed. "But I’m sure we can abstain for just one night." She replied pulling away and placing a more respectable distance between them. After all, they were not married yet.

"I won’t have any trouble at all," he said with a perfectly innocent expression on his face. "Its you that can’t keep your hands off me."

"Dream on!" She exclaimed laughing and swatted him on the shoulder to which he hugged her even closer, until Alex could do nothing but to succumb to sheer of happiness of being with this man and kissed him again, not caring at all who saw them.

They were almost to the livery when they saw Chris and Mary Larabee exiting the Clarion offices. By the looks of the wagon that was waiting for them outside, it appeared the couple were taking something of a trip themselves. However as they approached the gunslinger and his wife, it became very apparent, at least to Vin anyway, that Chris did look at all happy and wore a smouldering expression that gave caution to everyone who happened by. Vin wondered what on earth was snaking his best friend to such an extent and hoped there was not trouble a foot. With the weather the way it was going to be on route to Coventry, he did not want to leave Alex to fend for herself.

"Hey Chris," Vin asked gingerly.

"Vin." The gunslinger retorted rather abruptly. He did not look at all pleased to see them and further convinced Vin that it was probably wise to keep moving.

"You guys taking a trip?" Alex asked of Mary since Chris had the appearance of a man who did not wished to be bothered. Mary on the other hand, seemed to be in good spirits.

"Yes," Mary smiled, a sharp contrast to Chris’ mood. "We’re going to Sweet Water to do some baby shopping."

"Baby shopping?" Vin almost choked on his saliva when Chris turned to him sharply.

"Wanna make something of it?" He glared at Vin and growled at the tracker daring him to make a comment of any kind.

"Nope," Vin shook his head automatically and held a firm grip on Alex because he could see she was struggling not to let a snigger show on her face. "Not me."

"Good," he fumed and climbed onto the wagon.

"We’ll see you when you get back," Vin said neutrally and pulled Alex away from the duo as Mary climbed onto the seat next to Chris, looking as if an argument was going to follow as soon as the tracker and the doctor had put enough distance between them.

"Breathe." Vin ordered, seeing Alex struggle to contain her need to laugh her head off. In fact he was having some difficulty himself and was grateful that he had some emotional control and could keep this unflappable expression on his face even if the devil were to show up here with a dozen pink elephants wearing dresses. "You laugh and you’ll get me shot."

* * *

One of the advantages of learning the secret identity of one’s lover was also learning when her birthday was. Upon learning that valuable piece of information recently, Ezra realised that the date was fast approaching and sought to find the perfect gift. Unfortunately, the only establishment where one might procure a gift worthy a woman of Julia Pemberton’s stature in Four Corners was her Emporium and somehow that did not sit well with him since he wanted his gift to her to be something of a surprise.

Still, he did want to get her something special and so he had scoured the length and breadth of the establishment, searching for the perfect gift. Thanks to an exceptionally good win at the tables in the last week, he was able to have some freedom to select something truly exquisite and was pleased with himself when he finally found the perfect item for purchase. It was an ornate pendant, a single emerald coloured stone held in place by an intricate design of silver and matched perfectly the colour of Julia’s eyes. As soon as Ezra saw it, he knew his search was over and was more than content to pay the money since Julia had a fixed price rule in the establishment and he could not argue the amount even if he was so crass to do so.

Returning to the saloon, he saw Chris and Mary Travis heading out of town in their wagon and took note of the gunslinger’s expression as they were moving out of his line of sight.

 _Someone is in a bad mood_ , he thought.

Mr Larabee’s mood aside, it was so far a pleasant day although by the look of the sky, the sunshine was soon to be superseded by a hint of rain. The cumulus clouds were heading away from Four Corners but Ezra estimated they would probably catch the edge of the storm was it passed by. Julia’s birthday was tomorrow night and he had the entire evening planned carefully, from a romantic meal at the hotel where he would present her his gift to a more private sojourn at her home later. In either case, it would be a night to remember for both of them.

He entered the Standish Tavern and was unsurprised to find it relatively empty for this time of day. Although he seldom rose before noon, Ezra had woken up early this morning in order to make the necessary reservations at the hotel and to make his purchase at the Emporium. At this time of the morning, the only patrons who were in the Tavern were here mostly for the purpose of breakfast. Unlike the restaurant, the Tavern was a more relaxed surrounding for men who were lacking in manners and preferred cheap but good home cooking. To that end, Rain was serving meals to the few customers in the Tavern at this moment, including Josiah and JD.

What did surprise him however, was the presence of Billy Travis seated at the same table. From what he knew of the boy’s mother, Ezra was certain she would not have approved of him being inside the establishment, let alone with a similarly youthful companion. Lilith King sat next to him and while Billy seemed engrossed in whatever he was discussing with almost adult resolve on his youthful face, the young lady seemed mostly bored. She was a pretty thing, Ezra observed, with sunstreaked blond hair and a look about her that was just off kilter enough to be interesting. In some future, she would certainly be something of a heartbreaker, he thought as he approached the table.

"Hey Ezra." JD greeted with his usual enthusiasm and Ezra knew that there were some states where good cheer like this before noon could get a man shot.

"Good morning, Mr Dunne, Mr Sanchez, Master Travis and Miss King." Ezra responded politely as he joined them at the table.

"Ezra," Josiah tipped his hat as he continued to observe something in a handkerchief that Billy was showing him.

Ezra glanced at Rain who had returned behind the counter and was cleaning the bar top with a cloth, her attention seeming very far away at that moment. He had become accustomed to the woman’s moods to know that she was not much of a day dreamer. In fact as women went, Rain was remarkably practical and aloof. Unlike Inez who was more expressive in her personality, Rain’s temperament was a lot like Josiah’s, understated but nonetheless run through with steel.

"Miss Rain seems rather distracted." He pointed out.

Josiah glanced briefly at the young woman and nodded in agreement. "She’s just thinking on how Nathan is doing."

"I forgot," Ezra mused, realising what day it was. "So I take it Mr Jackson has already departed for Eagle Bend to pursue his dreams of medical accreditation?"

"Left at first light." Josiah answered. "Nervous as all hell." Josiah could not help stifle a smile as he thought about how anxious the healer had been this morning as he prepared to set out for Eagle Bend to begin the first in a series of exams that would put him on the road to being a real doctor.

"Well it is a pretty important day for him." JD pointed out. "I mean it would nice though when we can call him Doctor Jackson."

Ezra could not deny that he would be pleased when that day came upon them as well. It was still bizarre to him how all his life he had been taught that a coloured man was not even that, a man and yet upon meeting Nathan Jackson, that perception had altered so drastically, Ezra could not imagine ever thinking that way. Not only did Nathan prove to be an exceptional healer and a good friend, the man had overcome his prejudice for Ezra and in retrospect, considering how he had been treated by white man in the past, he had more reason for it than Ezra, had become the gambler’s conscience. Nathan was always quick to give him a gentle kick in the right place whenever his moral centre was being tested and gave him the incentive to do the right thing.

Of course, it could be damned inconvenient at times.

"I am sure that Mr Jackson will acquit himself most admirably in the examinations. He has certainly put enough time and effort into the endeavour to warrant nothing less than the most outstanding result." Ezra drawled and surprised himself inwardly because he really meant it. He truly believed Nathan would have no trouble with the exam. Between Alexandra and Josiah, the man had good support when he had been studying and Ezra felt somewhat guilty that he had not volunteered his assistance.

"Well that’s real nice Billy," JD said handing the handkerchief back to the youth. "I’m sure Miss Julia would like that."

"I trust you have there a token of appreciation for Miss Pemberton’s birthday, Master Travis?" Ezra said smoothly, perfectly comfortable with the crush the boy had on his lover.

"Yeah," Billy nodded with a smile of pride. "I’d saved up two weeks of money I earned from chores and bought this from that Mr Wing when he came through town."

Mr Wing had been a Chinese pedlar who had come through town a few days ago, selling all kind of oddities, from spices to Chinese silk fabric and small trinkets to amuse. Ezra found the merchandise passable but hardly worth spending money on. "May I?" He asked the boy who handed him the wrapped up bundle before pulling back the folds.

"Isn’t it pretty?" Lilith sighed somewhat disappointed that her best friend in the world was giving such a lovely gift to someone else.

Ezra’s eyes widened as he saw nestled in the palm of his hand among the folds of the boy’s handkerchief, an emerald pendant that looked identical to the one he had just spent a hefty amount of money at the Emporium. "What the hell!" He exclaimed in surprise as he sat up in his chair.

Both Josiah and JD looked at the gambler in shock because Ezra was not prone to expressing himself so coarsely as he himself would point out, if he was not so outrage by what he was seeing. "This is a heinous forgery! That charlatan!"

"What’s wrong Ezra?" Josiah asked as Billy shrunk back a little in fear.

"What’s wrong?" Ezra sputtered in annoyance as he reached into his coat and rifled through the pockets until he found what he was seeking. Placing the brown package on the desk, he unwrapped it so they could see the reason for his annoyance.

JD started to laugh while Josiah could only say out loud. "Oh my."

"I fail to see what is so amusing." Ezra gave JD a dark look before turning to Billy. "You cannot give her this."

"Why not?" Billy returned just as strongly. He had saved very hard to get Julia this gift and he was not prepared to relinquish of it for anything.

"Because, yours is obviously a fake." Ezra pointed out.

"Why can’t yours be?" The boy returned just as directly.

"Because mine was $18 dollars, how much did that forger Mr Wing abscond from you?"

"Two dollars." Billy replied.

JD and Josiah were almost in hysterics upon hearing that. Ezra glared at them and decided that he was not about to be usurped by an eight year old. "Obviously, since I paid more for my pendant, it would be the genuine article while yours is a fake."

"I don’t know Ezra," Josiah examined the two identical pendants. "They look pretty close."

"I did not get swindled!" Ezra roared. "Master Travis I insist."

"Well I ain’t gonna get rid of mine.’ Billy said petulantly.

"If you were ten years older, I would call you out so we can settle this like gentlemen." Ezra grumbled, unable to believe that he could have been lured into buying a clever forgery.

"You don’t got to wait," Billy returned, determined that all those chores were not going to go to waste. "I’m challenging you."

"This just gets better." JD chuckled as he was reduced to loud guffaws while Josiah was trying to remain the adult since no one else was.

"Challenging me?" The gambler stared at the young boy in astonishment, unable to believe he was going to be so stubborn about this. At this moment, it was easy to tell that he was Mary Travis’ son.

"Ezra, just get your money back." Josiah tried to reason with him.

"I will not." Ezra looked at him in outrage. "Getting my money back would imply that I have been conned and I do not get conned. Now the young man has issued a challenge." With great dignity, as much as could be gained considering a grown man was accepting a challenge from an eight year old for the hand of a lady, Ezra regarded his rival. "What do you have in mind?"

"Cards." Billy swallowed.

"Billy!" Lilith exclaimed with horror because like everyone else at the table she knew whom he was challenging. "You can’t challenge Ezra to cards!"

"You want to challenge me to a game of cards?" Ezra almost laughed out loud. "Very well, I accept. What would be your pleasure?"

Billy smiled. "Go Fish."

* * *

Buck Wilmington rode into a town with a most satisfied expression on his face. Even though it was obvious a storm would soon be coming, it was his turn in the jailhouse with Josiah today, what with Nathan on his way to Eagle Bend. The former rogue was in very good spirits, having been sent off from home after a very pleasant morning in bed with his lovely wife. She would be making her appearance in town later, to deal with the afternoon crowd in the Standish Tavern who would no doubt be clamouring for a taste of her fine cooking. Having partaken of her culinary expertise at home, Buck could well understand why her lunch time menu was so popular.

Of course, he would be lying if he said if he was not slightly biased.

If anyone had told Buck Wilmington when he had first come to Four Corners, that he would be running a ranch with his best friends in the world, that he would be married with a wife and child, he would have thought them insane. He had loved being the scoundrel that jumped in and out of so many beds that he had never dreamed he would willingly give it up. Of course, it was true what they said that when the right woman came along, everything would change.

Certainly he had changed. Sure, he still liked the ladies but his admiration for them did not go beyond a visual appreciation and strangely enough, it was not so hard being faithful to just one woman if the woman in question was Inez. Not just Inez but also his little daughter Elena Rose. Just seeing the plump face n his mind’s eye was enough to bring a smile to Buck’s face. He loved every aspect of being her father, from the midnight feeding’s to even the diaper changing because when he did all those things, Buck just knew she could tell that he was her father.

  
He rode into town and passed by Chris and Mary who appeared to having on hell of an argument when he happened by them. While Buck could not say for certain exactly what the content of the quarrel had been, he did hear something about  _thick headed_  and  _mule brained_  coming from Mary so he did not comment when he finally approached them. Buck could see the thunderous expression on Chris’ face enough to make polite greetings to his oldest friend and his wife before bidding them good tidings on their journey to Sweet Water.

Boy, he thought as he continued towards Four Corners,  _someone was in a bad mood_.

Buck did not anticipate much action in town today as it had been relatively quite in the area the past few days and was something of a change, considering what things could be like in Four Corners. The place was so often the convergence of five kinds of trouble that none of the seven were about to question it whenever there was a lull in the action. The last week had seen them working on the ranch, helping Vin rebuild the shack into a decent sized house for the time when he and Alex finally chose to get married. Buck and the rest of the seven were certain that the only reason why a date had not been set by the couple because they were determined to drive everyone insane with curiosity.

Upon reaching town, Buck left his horse at the livery and went towards the Standish Tavern where he was certain the others were congregated. Besides, a beer after his ride would not go astray and he did feel parched even though it looked like the weather was going to change from its sunny disposition to something of a mild storm. He reached the bat wing doors of the Tavern when suddenly, he saw the doors swing outwards, almost knocking him silly with Ezra Standish bursting through them, muttering loudly.

"Go Fish!!!!?"

"Nice to see you too, Ezra." Buck remarked with the gambler barely hearing him as he stormed off into the street.

Buck entered the saloon to the sound of peals of laughter being exuded with glee from both Josiah and JD. Josiah in particular was wiping tears from his eyes and Buck wondered what so funny and quickly descended upon them in order to be let in on the joke. Whatever it was, Buck was certain that it had to do with Ezra, if the look on the man's face was any indication.

"What’s so funny?" Buck asked, glancing at the door where Ezra had just exited. He had not seen the gambler so infuriated about anything since the occasion when he came up against another one of his kind and had lost repeatedly, even though Ezra was certain the man had been cheating.

"Billy challenged Ezra to a game of cards." JD managed to say.

"You’re kidding." Buck retorted and was then told the rest of the circumstances surrounding the issue of the challenge and found himself joining their laughter when it was all said and done.

"Oh this is rich!" Buck chuckled. "Mr Standish, professional gambler playing go fish with an eight year old for a lady."

  
"Buck!" A voice sang out suddenly and severed any further conversation when the big man turned around in his chair and saw a face he had not seen in almost two years.

"Millie!" He said with a wide smile, remembering the lovely brunette who had been the object of his affections some time ago. "Well hello darling, what are you doing back here?"

When the seven had been usurped by a sheriff appointed by the railroad, Four Corners had almost been burned to the ground by Messrs. Royal and Stuart who had hired men to chase the residence out of town, after killing the man. In the aftermath of that crisis, Millie and her family had chosen to leave town even though the young woman had been very passionate about him. In retrospect, Buck supposed that probably had a lot to do with the man’s decision to leave in the first place.

She crossed the floor of the saloon and wrapped her arms his neck, pushing her soft lips against his and delivering upon him a kiss of intense passion that Buck had no choice but to respond to for a few seconds. His sense were bombarded by her familiar taste and scent and Buck was revisited with the memory about just how passionate he had been about her once.

"I came back to be with you Buck." She said breathlessly once he had regained enough equilibrium to push her away.

"With me?" He squeaked, staring into her blue eyes and knew that it was the truth. "But what about your pa?" He managed to ask, desperately seeking a way out of this sudden predicament.

"When I told him just how much I love you and I would just die without you, pa just knew that he couldn’t stand in the way." Millie gushed like a girl delirious in love. Indeed the sparkle in her eyes seemed to indicate just how giddy with happiness she was to be back in Four Corners again, or more specifically with him.

"I guess not." Buck stammered, trying to imagine how he was going to explain this to her. "Uh Millie, a lot has happened since you’ve been gone. I’ve changed….."

"Oh Buck," she looked as if he was being silly and moved to hug him again when Buck took a cautious step backwards. "I don’t care how much you’ve changed," she beamed at him with radiance. "You’ve always been perfect to me and I know you couldn’t have changed enough for me to ever stop loving you." As that sentence escaped her, she surged forward and embraced him again, planting kisses on his face.

"You’d be surprised." Josiah drawled under his breath and garnered a furious look from Buck, who was perfectly aware that both the preacher and JD who was hiding his face behind his hand, was having a great deal of amusement at his expense.

"Please Millie," Buck peeled her arms away from him and cleared his throat, trying to find the words to tell her that his circumstances had changed drastically since they had last been together. Unfortunately, the girl was obviously smitten by him and Buck did not want to break her heart especially when her pa had a shot gun, by telling her that he was married with a young daughter. "This is so much to get accustomed to. I’m gonna need time."

"Oh I’m sorry," she pulled away, embarrassed by the torrent of emotion she had just displayed before him. "I didn’t want to crowd you. I know how hard it is you to commit to a woman so I just want you to know that you don’t have to make any promises to me. I just want to be with you."

Buck looked at her stricken and tried to force a smile on his face as he responded. "That’s mighty good of you Millie."

"Well," she let out a sigh. "I’ve got to help momma with the shopping." She smiled at him, adjusting the bonnet on head and fixing her hair back to respectability. "I’ll see you later." Millie replied withdrawing out of the tavern .

"I’ll be looking forward to it." Buck waved goodbye, still wearing that same frozen grin on his face because he did not dare do anything else. He was still doing it when Millie disappeared out the door and he felt his heart stop pounding on his chest. When she was no longer in sight, he let out a deep breath of relief even though the conundrum still remained.

"What am…." He started to say when riotous laughter ripped through the place emanating from Josiah and JD.

"Quit laughing!" Buck growled. "This is serious." He pulled up a chair and sat down before them, glowering at the sniggers and loud guffaws that were tearing through their sides.

"It sure is Buck," JD managed to say. "After all, you’re a guy who has trouble with commitment!"

He was still hollering the same when Buck started chasing him around the table.

* * *

Nathan Jackson was not nervous.

He told himself this about a dozen times since he began the ride to Eagle Bend. He knew he should have gone the day before and had adequate time to prepare himself for the exam instead of spending half the day riding to the testing centre in Eagle Bend. Unfortunately, Nathan was not about to shirk his responsibilities to Four Corners either by taking time more personal time that he should. Besides, the judge had invited him to stay at his home for the evening and share supper once his tests were done and Nathan was so touched by the offer he had not wanted to refuse. He had decided that he would go to Eagle Bend this morning, take the test and then spend the evening with Orin Travis before heading out in the morning. That seemed uncomplicated enough.

He had set out at first light and the sun was beginning it journey across the sky towards noon apogee when he neared the halfway point between Four Corners and Eagle Bend. His first exam would not be until early afternoon and so Nathan knew he would have plenty of time to get there. In his saddle bags were his books and notes that he had been reviewing each time he stopped to take a break and water the horses, trying to ensure all the knowledge he had forced into his head the last few months had not withered away. Despite his attempts to remain in control of his fear, Nathan’s stomach was a mess of nerves and he kept reviewing the data in his head continuously until he could think of nothing else.

No one could blame him for his delirium of panic, not if they were facing a trial as important as this was to him. Ever since he had walked into the field hospital during the war, Nathan knew he wanted to be a doctor and until Alexandra Styles had offered him the opportunity all those months ago, he had never dared to dream it was possible. Sure, there were quacks out there who called himself doctors, who had plenty of ability but none of the training, like himself. Until Nathan had met Alex and saw how she conducted himself, he never imagined how much difference the training made to the ability. Fine woman that she was, she had attempted to teach him as much as she could and he had learnt a great deal since working with her in tandem. He knew about surgery and diseases, he knew to diagnose serious illness by the slightest of symptoms and yet his mind craved more.

The journey to Eagle Bend had so far gone without incident and Nathan believed he would make it to the town in good time. Hopefully, he would have time to grab a bite to eat and perhaps and hour or two to review his notes again. Nathan had the sneaking suspicion that he might be panicking a little but needed a second person to be sure of that. He wished Rain would have made this trip with him but she had rightly stated that she would be a distraction to him and he had enough worries on his mind. Still, he could never imagine the lovely young woman to be anything but wonderful to his morale but then Rain was a great deal more sensible than he was about such things.

In that way, women seemed to be one up on men.

Nathan was approaching a clearing when suddenly, he almost tumbled from his saddle by the sudden limp of his horse. Grabbing onto the pommel before he fell off, the dark mare stopped moving and Nathan forced himself into an upright position in order to get climb off the animal safely. She had come to a halt in a clearing and appeared reluctant to move which did not bode well for his situation. Nathan dismounted the animal, trying not to feel apprehension at what the delay mind mean to his appointment in Eagle Bend.

When he touched the ground, he noticed the mare’s hind leg raised slightly and felt his stomach knot in tension as he leaned forward to examine what was wrong. It did not take him long to discover that the horse had thrown a shoe and while it was not a disaster of major proportions, it would add time to his travels.

"You picked a great day for this." He grumbled as he fumbled through his saddle to find the tools to repair this latest blunder.

The horses snorted its innocence as Nathan started to get to work and he hoped that there were no more surprises waiting for him. At this point however, the sky above started to rumble and Nathan looked up to see thick clouds forming in the previously blue sky. A slight wind had started to pick up and Nathan was beginning to wonder if the powers that be were trying to tell him something. Pulling his hat firmly over his head, Nathan resolved to let nothing get in his way of reaching Eagle Bend.

He was going to be Doctor Jackson if it killed him.

At this point, thunder rumbled through the air as the sky became charged with the electricity of lightning. The horse started to become skittish at the sound and made replacing the shoe somewhat of a trial as he tried to get the animal to stay put. It was not lost upon him that his clothes were starting to become soiled from kneeling close to the ground and as the clouds began to overtake the blue sky, could see what was coming for almost a mile off.

"You ain’t gonna get to me." Nathan muttered as he continued working, when the wind picked up and the clouds became pregnant with moisture.

The minute he said that, the rain came down on him.

It took another ten minutes of working on the animal before the horse was shoed and finally able to continue the journey. By the time Nathan climbed back into the saddle, he was drenched to the bone and possessing a mood that rivalled the tempest that was brewing around him. His clothes remained stuck to his back as he fumbled through his saddle and searched for his coat, only to find that in order to accommodate his books and notes, he had left the damn thing at home.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he dug his heels into the side of his mount and urged her to keep moving, praying that was the last misadventure the day was going to throw at him. He wiped the rain out of his eyes and stared at the trail ahead before urging the horse to gallop faster. The wind had picked up considerably and as he rode through the precipitation, he could feel sheets of water lashing against him.

All of a sudden, a branch of the tree he was presently riding beneath decided to snap. The thick length of wood swept him out of the saddle in its descent and into the wet mud of the track beneath him. He hit the ground with a loud splatter and swore so profusely, he was rather grateful that no one was about to hear the string of words that would have made Chris Larabee proud. Standing up as he saw the tail end of his horse widening the gap between them, Nathan was starting to wonder if God was trying to tell him something.

"Good luck Brother Nathan," he muttered as he started following the animal in the rain. "Good luck my ass."

* * *

After JD had left the Standish Tavern with his skin intact, the youth made his way to Gloria Potter’s General Store where he was meeting Casey Wells so that they could go riding today. With Nettie gone to Silver City for a few days to visit an old friend, Casey was left alone at home and although he sensed that she liked having the independence of being on her own, she was also unaccustomed to the experience. Nettie had been all she had known for as long as Casey could remember and JD whose mother had been his entire world until she passed on, could appreciate how it felt to be alone for the first time.

  
Unfortunately, as he looked up at the sky above, it appeared the idea of going for a ride was going to be somewhat problematic since it appeared that a storm was making its approach over the horizon. While it looked like it might miss Four Corners, they would still get some rain and JD felt his heart sink knowing that he might have to cancel their outing because of it. Casey had really looked forward to going out, particularly when she did not have to worry about Nettie expecting her home for supper or something. As a man, JD could appreciate the freedom to move and felt that it was not right sometimes, that women were so restricted in the things they did.

He was making his way down the boardwalk and could see the store where Casey worked as Mrs Potter’s assistant, coming to his sight as he approached. He was not paying much attention to anything else, since he was still chuckling in amusement at the absurdity the day had so far thrown at them. Poor Buck was at this moment, trying to think of a way to let Millie down gently, while keeping her return to town a secret from Inez. As far as JD could tell, Buck’s entire strategy at the moment was to lay low in the hopes that the problem would go away.

 _Good luck_ , JD snorted  sceptically.

Ezra on the meantime was probably holed up in his room, trying to figure out how to play Go Fish before he had to face Billy Travis for the hand of Julia Pemberton. JD could not even imagine what Julia was going to say when she heard about this and was forced to stifle a chuckle as he pictured the scene that would soon be when Ezra and Billy stared at each other across a felt covered table.

"What’s so funny, JD." He heard the sweet voice of Jillian Carr in front of him.

"Oh Hi Jillian," JD said pleasantly at the pretty blond who had appeared out of nowhere and barred his way with her smile and the scent of lavender exuding off her skin.

"Aren’t there any mean outlaws in jail today?" She asked coquettishly and JD felt himself clearing his throat as she gave him looks that were destined to get him into trouble with Casey if she saw them together.

"Not today." He said indifferently, wishing that she would get out of his way so that he could keep going.

"I’d love to take a tour." She oozed seduction in her voice even though she was not much older than him. While JD found her to be pretty, she seemed to be one of those women that Buck would consider too much trouble for the effort. Jillian was not the kind of girl who would sit by his side, wading her bare feet in the creek while they fished. She probably did not like to ride and needed a man to do everything for her. JD did not know that much about women but he did know for certain that Jillian was just too much trouble and the last time he had even looked at another woman, it had just ended up badly and made JD wished he never betrayed Casey to begin with.

Unfortunately at the time that JD was valiantly trying to make his escape from Jillian Carr, Casey had strolled out of the Potter’s General Store to witness the exchange between her beau and the too pretty Jillian. She bristled in annoyance seeing him talk to the girl, perfectly aware that when it came to looks, JD had no sense whatsoever and could be easily swayed by the first pretty face that came upon him. Of course it did not help that Jillian had her eye on JD, who was not only terribly brave and incredibly handsome but also Sheriff of Four Corners. Jillian with her hair of golden curls shimmering in the sunlight and her perfect blue eyes, who cut a feminine figure indeed in her rose coloured dress while here was Casey, wearing men’s clothes that showed no one that she was a woman.

Turning away from them because she could not bear to look, Casey decided that was the problem with JD. He just did not see her as a woman. He saw her as a girl, a friend he could do all the things that he could not do with the rest of the seven but not quite the things that a courting couple should be indulging in. She did not even think he considered her his girl the way Ezra saw Julia. Ezra was always bringing the beautiful Emporium owner flowers and other pretty things. He actually took her out to dinner in a restaurant! The closest JD had ever come to doing that was a picnic basket and she had to bring it! Of course, Ezra’s relationship with Julia left no doubt as to what their feelings were for each other.

Casey knew enough about men and women to say for certain that Ezra and Julia’s relation was on an intimate level that she and JD had not even spoken about. There was that time a few months ago when she had let him kiss her and touch her a little farther than either were accustomed but JD’s response had been less than encouraging and Casey had made no further offering of herself. JD was so embarrassed by his behaviour, although he had not explained why he had behaved that way, that he had not made an attempt to bring up the subject. Casey actually wondered if he was just trying to avoid telling her that he did not feel that way about her.

But she  _wanted_  him to feel that way about her.

She wanted JD to be her first lover and as the thought took root in her mind, Casey came to the realisation that she was old enough to give herself to JD. The proper thing would be to wait until they were married but the way things were going, if she did not show JD that there was more to her than these drab clothes, he would stray again. Just like he strayed when that lady bounty hunter had come to town and almost killed him. In truth, Casey looked forward to it because she just knew that JD was so experienced about these things and he would make it wonderful for her.

"Hey Casey." JD’s voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts.

"Hi JD." Casey faced, becoming more certain about her decision now that it was firmly placed in her mind. She looked around and saw no sign of Jillian and wondered where her rival for JD’s affections had gone. "Where’s Jillian?"

"Who knows," JD shrugged his shoulder without a hint of feeling that he actually cared. "I told that I had to go cause I was taking my girl out for a ride." He grinned, hoping that would be enough to assuage Casey’s fears that there was anything going on between him and Jillian.

The tactic had the desired effect when she flashed him a radiant smile that JD could feel all the way to his toes. He wished Casey could understand that compared to her natural beauty and plain honesty, Jillian Carr did not stand a chance against Casey Wells for his affection.

"JD," Casey said with that same smile unaware of its effect on JD. "I was thinking we might skip our ride."

"Are you sure?" He asked, although he did not want to admit to her that it was probably a good idea with the weather the way it was.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Let’s go back to the farm."

"Okay," he said puzzled. "But what do you want to do there?"

Casey’s answer as a little smile JD did not understand.

* * *

 _Men_ _!_   That’s what Doctor Alex would say,  _men_!

At the moment, Lilith was in complete agreement with the doctor’s exasperation with the gender that had lead her to make that statement. She had left Billy who was presently at home practising as hard as he could, preparing himself for this stupid card game that he had challenged Ezra to. Like Ezra even had a chance of winning and yet Lilith found the gambler losing to be completely unacceptable. If he lost then Billy would get to present his gift to Julia and Miss Pemberton as nice as she was, clearly liked  _her_  Billy.

  
That’s right, Lilith thought with as much stubbornness that Billy had displayed when the discovery was made that he had bough the same gift as Ezra.  _Her Billy_. Lilith adored Billy, she though he was the most wonderful boy in the world except he had this thing for older women,  _way_  older woman and Miss Pemberton was so beautiful that Lilith could not possibly hope to compete with the Emporium owner. Unfortunately, when Billy won this card game, there was no doubt in Lilith’s mind that he would  _because_  he was the most wonderful boy that ever lived, Miss Pemberton would be his forever and Lilith did not at all like that idea. However, that was not very much she could do to keep that from happening.

She was half way home when she remembered the Book of Shadows.

Even though Josiah had told her to never touch the thing after all the trouble it had caused when she had tried to help Billy with the perfect gift for everyone last Christmas, Lilith had been stealing glances of it on occcassion. She was certain that she had seen something in its arcane pages that would suit her nicely if she could only get up the nerve to try casting another spell. After how terribly wrong the last incantation of hers had gone, Lilith was naturally concerned whether or not this was such a good idea. After all, love potions were tricky things and if she made a mistake....

However the more she thought about it, the more Lilith knew that she could not allow Billy to fall any more deeply under the spell of the beautiful Miss Pemberton. Besides, she would be careful when casting her little spell. After all, she knew very well what could happen if she did not. She spent the rest of the morning, going about town and seeking the ingredients because love spells were not to be taken lightly and had to be performed to the absolute letter or else who knew what would happen? Worse yet, as much as it pained her to do it, Lilith found that she had to keep what she was doing a secret from Josiah because she was certain he would not understand no matter how valiant the cause.

Unfortunately, the former preacher had seen her gathering her ingredients and while she had claimed that she was making the collection for the purpose of a school project, Lilith was not entirely sure whether or not Josiah believed her. Nevertheless, the possibility of discovery only hastened her return home to begin conjuring before he grew wise to what she was planning. Lilith hated to lie to Josiah but a love potion could not possibly harm anyone.

_Right?_


	2. The Bad Element

Marriage was meant to be a life time commitment between two people, a symphony of souls bound in the union of love, creating from it the foundation that inspired the progeny of the future. Poets sang songs in its honour, religion held in such reverence because it was the ultimate bonding of man and a woman, a covenant that began from the moment Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden to face the wilderness together. There was no institution finer, more revered in the history of all things borne of man.

Then why did Chris still feel this insatiable urge to shove Mary out of the wagon?

The journey to Sweet Water was possibly the longest in his life with the woman he loved (most of the time) expressing her displeasure at his reluctance to make this journey with her in the most vocal manner possible. He realised of course that this was partially his fault. However, pride kept him from saying what was necessary to salve her wounded emotions. True, accompanying her to Sweet Water for a shopping spree was slightly less painful that shooting oneself in the gut but he had better ways of getting around it than being antagonistic. After all, he could have made some excuse when they had arrived and disappeared for a couple of hours, taking refuge in a saloon until she had shopped to her hearts content.

Instead, he had properly inspired her anger which was something of an achievement because his wife was not normally a tempestuous harpy. Mary spoke her mind but she did not get angry unnecessarily and it took quite a bit for her to be angry with him. Most of the time, Chris sensed she humoured his eccentricities and avoided arguments because she was married before and knew that sometimes one just had to put up with a husband demands no matter how silly it might be. Of course, Mary was not complacent all the time and when she felt there was an issue to discuss, there was no force in heaven or earth who could stop her.

  
Her mood was particularly incendiary because she was nearly six months pregnant and hormones were coursing through her veins, making her temper take on the consistency of dynamite requiring only a spark from him to set it off. While he felt slightly guilty for provoking her anger in the state she was in, Chris could no find himself to say the words to assuage her temper. Thus he was forced to sit here, listening to her tell him in no uncertain terms, why he was such an idiot.

Despite her telling him that he was a moron and he bearing it quite stoically, since he had crossed that threshold known only to husbands, attaining a state of being where he was capable of shutting out of her voice, Chris thought it was a rather nice day. The storm that had been approaching Four Corners when they had left lay in the other direction and above them was blue skies, a hint of wind that was most likely a residual effect of the tempest brewing elsewhere.

Chris kept his hands on the reins, his eyes gazing into the greenery and firmly located in his ‘happy place’ lest he started listening to Mary and began taking exception to her annoyance with a response he was certain he would regret later. His plan was simple, to let her get it out of her system and head for the nearest saloon once he hit Sweet Water. Hopefully, a day shopping would calm her down and give him a reason not to go through his plan of putting her in a burlap sack and sticking her in the back tray for the duration of the journey home.

It was a good thought though and brought a smile to his face when he thought of it.

"Chris!" Mary barked. "Are you listening to me?"

Chris snapped out of that thought and regarded her, wondering what was the matter now. He loved this woman, he truly did but sometimes, she could be so infuriating. "I’m ain’t deaf Mary." He gave her a look.

"I just don’t see what’s so hard about coming shopping with me," she frowned, certain that he had not really been listening to her but she was getting just as tired as he about this argument and since they were almost to Sweet Water, it seemed like a moot point. In retrospect, Mary wondered if perhaps she was being unreasonable, after all, he was a hardened gunslinger, used to living the rough and tumble life but they had been married for more than a year now and she thought he might be used to by now. Of course, his image had a lot to do with it. She had after all, married the quintessential bad element. That was how he had described himself to begin with and Mary had accepted it.

"Look," he said letting out a deep breath and turning that high powered gaze upon her which usually meant that she was grabbing a tiger by its tail by continuing with this. "I am going with you aint I?" He retorted.

"Yes," she nodded quietly, offering him a pout before turning away. "I just thought that you might want to be apart of it."

"I  _do_  want to be apart of it!" He exclaimed, wondering how she could even think that. "I just don’t want to go shopping with you. That’s women’s work." He drawled and winced the minute he saw the dark expression on her face that probably was not the best thing to have said at this point.

"Women’s work!" She glared at him, hands flying to her hips in anger. "Its all women’s work Chris! The carrying the baby, the morning sickness, the swollen ankles, growing fat and huge like a walrus, the mood swings and finally the piece de resistance, the labour! Your entire contribution so far is the sex and complaint why I’m so difficult!"

"Is that so?" Chris bristled, angered that she could reduce his participation to just as the provider of seed and complaints. "Well I guess you won’t mind if I disappear when we get to Sweet Water, since I’m not doing much as it is!"

"That’s fine with me!" She snapped and folded her arms over her chest and looked away, her cheeks flushed red with anger.

Both did not say a word for a moment, with Chris determined that he was not going to apologise for anything. However, even as he tried to force his defiance to remain in place, he knew that she was right. Pregnancy was one of those things that men could seldom contribute in any great capacity, other than the initial conception. After that it was merely a matter of tolerating the process as their women underwent changes for the next nine months until the baby finally arrived. Mary was still doing all the things that she had done when he had first met her, except on top of running the paper, playing community leader on occasion, she also had Billy back full time and a husband and a household to contend with. With the ranch and the protection of the town under his sphere of responsibility, he supposed that he had done very little to alleviate that intense workload.

Chris was still considering all these factors, when suddenly he heard a sound.

_Sniff._

Sniff? Aw Hell! He looked sharply and knew that sound was exactly what he suspected. Chris groaned inwardly, knowing that was the one thing he could not stand up against, the sound of Mary’s tears. Biting down as he rolled his eyes in exasperation because he could feel himself succumbing to the sound of those tears. Chris swallowed the lump in his throat and wondered how it was possible for this woman, with her soft ways and her blue grey eyes, could make him squirm where men who made killing an art form could barely get a rise out of him.

"Mary…" He dropped the reins for a moment and slid closer to her on the seat, feeling his anger dissolved as he wrapped an arm around her tenderly. "I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be such a damn fool."

"It just feels like you’re not happy about the baby at all." Mary swallowed, wiping her tears from her eyes because it was not a ploy to win their argument.

"That ain’t true." He said firmly, wondering how she could believe that he would be anything but utterly ecstatic about their child. However, even as he thought that, he knew that there was a part of him that was still cautious and wary about bringing a new life into this world. It did not have so much to do with the fact that he was accustomed to having a family again, on the contrary, he looked forward to it. However, a baby was a large responsibility and the first time he had been in this situation, he had looked upon the experience with a sense of hope for the future. The possibility that he could lose everything had never occurred to him when Adam was born.

It did now.

"I am happy." He finally admitted, aware that he owed her an explanation of some kind despite her anger. "I just worry about things." His voice drifted off and she needed no elaboration on what he meant by that.

"Chris," Mary looked at him, composing herself because she could tell this was at the heart of all his ambivalence. "No one can guarantee that our life isn’t going to go the way we want. We just have to…." Her words drifted off for a moment and a strange look overcame her features as stared into empty space, trying to examine what it was she felt.

"What?" He picked up the odd expression on her face and grew immediately alarmed.

"I felt something." She remarked, her face looking very serious at that moment and further deepened his concern.

"Mary," Chris replied. "What is it?" He demanded. They were out in the middle of nowhere, Sweet Water was an hour away as well as a doctor. If something was wrong, he wanted to know and he wanted to know right now. Panic was starting to set in and suddenly he was revisited with all the fears that only a moment ago, Mary had been trying so hard to make him disregard.

"Chris," she turned to him with a small smile. "I think I just felt the baby kick."

Chris glanced instinctively at her swelling abdomen and met her eyes once more. "Really?" He asked.

"Yes," she beamed and took his hand, placing his palm against the curve of her body so he could experience it with her.

For an instance, he felt nothing and then there it was. It felt like a flutter under her skin, like a ripple in water. It made contact with his skin and expanded from his palm like a flood, sweeping through him a wave of wonder that paralysed his every though from the sheer power of what it meant. Chris was unaware that he was holding his breath until he found the will to speak and when the voice escaped his throat, it was like a gasp.

"God." He whispered. He had been away so much during Sarah’s pregnancy he rarely had the opportunity of feeling the emerging life that was Adam until he actually came into the world. After she had died, the guilt he had felt over all these little things had returned to haunt him in the midst of the despair. He had sworn that when he married again that he would miss nothing and then realised that the whole argument of coming to Sweet Water was pure foolishness. If he had remained at home as he wished, he would have missed this moment and he did not want to miss it, not ever.

"That’s our baby, Chris." Mary answered, fresh tears in her eyes but this time it was not out of anger but happiness.

"Yeah," he smiled at her. "It feels like a boy." He remarked.

"That’s what you all say." She laughed, wiping her wet cheeks. "I would not mind a girl."

In truth, neither would Chris. He was not very particular on what gender their new baby would be as long as both mother and child survive the ordeal in good health. Chris raised his eyes to Mary and lowered his lips to hers, feeling suddenly grateful that he was here with her to share this moment and no longer felt any annoyance that she had forced her to come with him.

"As long as she looks like you." He smiled after he had parted from that soul searching kiss that told her with more clarity than words ever could, his sorrow at their quarrel and his happiness that she was in his life. It was odd how such a small offering by their child could put aside so many petty emotions and remind them of what was truly important.

"Chris," Mary said after a moment. "You don’t have to come shopping with me. I can manage on my own. When we get to Sweet Water, why don’t you go do whatever it is you do. I’ll be fine."

Chris let out a sigh and saw that she was attempting to make amends. "No I’ll come with you." He surprised her by saying as he faced front again after picking up the reins and prompting Homer to get going. "But if you don’t mind, I’ll wait outside while you do your shopping."

Mary beamed happily at the gesture he was making and felt her anger at him bleed away into nothingness. "I can live with that." She returned before leaning her head against his shoulder as they continued their journey to Sweet Water.

* * *

It was almost noon when Chris and Mary arrived in Sweet Water.

Unlike the rest of the country side that was experiencing bad weather, the storm that was currently ravaging through the Territory had conveniently bypassed Sweet Water. The neglect by the precipitous climate had thus allowed its citizens to enjoy a relatively sunny day with just a touch of a breeze to make it quite a pleasant time to be outdoors. When husband and wife arrived in town, most of the townspeople were out in force, going about their business as was expected on a busy work day. After their arguments during most of their journey to Sweet Water, Chris decided to take his wife to a local restaurant for a bit of lunch before accompanying her on the rest of her plans for the day.

He still did not look forward to going with her but had learnt to put things in perspective after the tiny miracle of their child announcing its presence, probably because it was just as sick as they were with the bickering that had been going on. Chris had to admit he like taking Mary out, feeling slightly guilty that he did not do it more often. However, as he thought about it deeper in length, Chris did not think he was this neglectful when he had been married to Sarah.

He remembered dances, dinners, rides out in the country, going to picnics with her and Adam. He had managed all this while running a ranch and suddenly, Chris felt inordinately ashamed when he realised that he had made no such effort with Mary. In fact, he lavished more time taking Billy fishing and hunting then he did spending time with Mary.

Chris resolved that when they got back to Four Corners, he was changing that.

* * *

Gunderson could not believe it when he looked out the window and saw the familiar face of Chris Larabee walking down the boardwalk, across the street from the saloon where the outlaw was presently drinking with his friends. They had crossed paths almost four years ago in Vesta City where Larabee had stolen his woman, a saloon girl name Josie. Gunderson had burst in on them but coward that Larabee was had been hiding behind a door and shot him, damn near would have killed him if not for the bullet being off mark enough to leave a sizeable nick in the side of his head instead of entering skull.

Although some said that that should been the end of the matter, Gunderson was not a man who forgot his debts. The scar above his eye was there to remind him of the humiliation he had suffered at Larabee’s hands each time he looked at the mirror. Gunderson drained his glass and walked to the window, peering through the glass trying to ensure whether or not he was mistaken but he knew he was not. Larabee was not exactly a man who could hide himself. As Gunderson kept his eye on the lean figure waiting outside one of the stores in the main street, clad in black with eyes that always seemed like they were pulling strips of everyone who passed his notice, Gunderson knew it could be no one else but Chris Larabee.

"Boys," he drawled as he turned back to his men. "Looks like things just got interesting. Larabee’s here."

The four men who rode with Gunderson knew exactly what Larabee meant to their leader, not simply from his telling them repeatedly every time he got drunk or anyone had unwisely inquired after the injury, but also from the gunslinger’s fearsome reputation. Larabee was supposed to be very fast and extremely lethal. When they had entered this saloon full of cowpokes, drifters and other outlaws like them, they had only come for a drink and to pay call on the saloon girls working the room. Confronting a gunslinger with Larabee’s reputation ranked was not something they had been planning on doing today however, if Larabee’s appearance was light a red flag in front of Gunderson’s bull and however this went, it was going to happen with or without their help.

"Chris Larabee?" Mayborn, the youngest of them asked. "I though he was out in Four Corners, playing lawman with six deputies."

The younger man had read Jock Steele’s story about the Magnificent Seven to know that it was unwise to get in Larabee’s crosshairs without incurring the wrath of his companions, not to mention the main himself. Mayborn had joined up with Gunderson fresh off the farm because he hated being tied to the land. Gunderson had promised him adventure and a life beholding to no one. While experience had taught Mayborn that Gunderson’s promise what nowhere near the reality, he still had the wanderlust and enjoyed travelling in the man’s company even if he had to suffer aiding the man in the odd grudge he had against some poor, unsuspecting bastard. Gunderson had a tendency to collect grudges like some men collected women in every town they happened along, Gunderson took offence easily and demanded vengeance only when the opponent was not terribly formidable.

However, Larabee was a different kettle of fish all together. Gunderson was a fair man with a gun but he was nowhere in Larabee’s calibre, not to mention that the gunslinger was notorious for taking threats to his person with extreme hostility. Prior to Larabee’s settling in Four Corners, there were not many men who walked away from their encounters with him. People who started gunfights with Chris Larabee did not live to regret it and Mayborn had enough feeling for Gunderson to know he could be added to those score of victims if he went after the man.

"That’s what I heard too." Quincy drawled in that voice of his that sounded like grated glass. Quincy was a huge hulk of a man and when he leaned against the bar counter, it felt like he was towering over it. People gave old Quince a wide berth because they could tell in his eyes that killing was not just a fact of life for him but rather a fringe benefit.

"I don’t care who he rides with," Gunderson said filling his glass once more. "I want him."

"Maybe we ought to see what he’s doing in town first." Mayborn suggested, not wanting Gunderson to do anything rash. "Why don’t Skeet and I follow him around a bit, see if his men are in town. If they ain’t, you can take him out fair and square." The younger man looked at Gunderson hoping the argument would win out against his need for vengeance.

Skeet, a small wiry man who had a penchant for sneaking up on people with a knife, grinned a mouthful of yellowed teeth in Gunderson’s direction to show his approval with Mayborn’s plan. "Yeah Boss, why don’t we soften him up for ya?"

"You don’t need to soften him up." Gunderson glared at the smaller man for daring to admit he might not be able to take on Larabee on his own. "I can take him on my own."

Mayborn caused a stony glare at Skeet and warned him to shut up before addressing Gunderson again. "We ain’t gonna do nothing to him. We’re just making sure the odds are little fairer for you."

Gunderson seemed to approve of that and nodded slightly before answering. "All right," he finally agreed. "Well do it your way but when the day’s over, Larabee is mine."

* * *

Chris waited outside the shopfront, glancing occasionally through the glass to see how Mary was progressing. He waited outside the store whose speciality appeared to be children’s clothing and noticed to his surprise when he finally paid attention that he was not alone in his purgatory. There were a number of bored men lounging along the boardwalk either next to or close to the shop, appearing as if they were all trapped in the same cage. Suddenly, he realised to his utter horror that he was caught in the hell of bored husband who was forced to accompany their wives shopping. They all wore that same expression of resigned doom as they waited about for their women to complete whatever transaction was taking place inside the confines of the shop, all appreciating each other’s dilemma.

Once again, Chris Larabee found himself wondering how in the world he had become reduced to such circumstances. After Sarah and Adam had passed from his life, Chris’ existence had been one of saloons and gunfights, where he had been the lone warrior, brooding and sombre, living a life of danger. He had become accustomed to it and to a certain extent he liked it. Even though he had been a family man for the last year or so, his role as protector of Four Corners had not changed that lifestyle very much. However, until this very moment, Chris had not realised that he was tethered to domesticity again. The man who married Sarah Connelly was different from the one who married Mary Travis. Chris barely recognised Sarah’s husband when he looked into the mirror some times and knew that what he had been was gone forever. Chris was not fully comfortable yet with letting go of his ‘bad element’ reputation because that persona had kept him alive, not to mention his growing family as well.

Deciding he was not going to languish here indefinitely and aware that Mary would understand, Chris went to pick up a newspaper for something to do while he was waiting. He left the company of the husbands, grateful to escape them because he looked so out of place among their number. They were farmers and ordinary townsfolk who did not at all look like a gunfighter which no one who saw him would believe anything else. The newspaper was sold at a nearby general store and his entrance into the premises garnered some interest from the patrons within, who could not help but stare at the imposing gunslinger clad in black and wearing a look of danger about him that was almost tangible in its intensity.

Chris ignored them, accustomed to this reaction from people and grabbed a paper as well as more cheroot before stepping out onto the boardwalk once more. He glanced across the street at the store and saw that Mary had yet to emerge. He let his gaze sweep across the immediate terrain and saw something that leapt out of at him almost as soon as he cast his eye upon them. While the rest of the community went about their business, the two men who were sitting outside the doors of the nearby saloon quickly averted their gaze when they made eye contact.

He stared at them for a moment, trying to decide who they were. Before Four Corners, he had been the scourge of the Territory shooting men left right and centre for the simple sin of pissing him off, he wondered if these were any of those past acquaintances. The men talked among themselves, attempting to appear harmless as they tried hard not to raise his attention once more. Chris slipped the paper under his arm and lit his cheroot as he stepped onto the street, pretending that his interest had passed but keeping them in his line of sight to know that they were watching him.

Their eyes followed him across the street as he returned to the boardwalk in front of the store and sat down. He pulled the pages of his newspaper open and began reading, puffing away at the same time, tendrils of smoke rising over the edge of the paper and waited.

He did not have long to wait because he was sure they were going to approach him. He heard their footsteps and glanced over his shoulder and saw Mary was now talking to a shop assistant and oblivious to the drama unfolding outside. He heard their footsteps crunching against the gravel over the ground even though with the number of people on the street, it could be anyone. He did not know  _how_  he was so certain of who was approaching him, only that he did.

"Larabee." A voice spoke.

Chris did not lower his paper but answered smoothly. "Do something for you boys?"

"I think you need to take a walk with us." The taller of the two replied. Although he could not see them clearly, he could tell where they were standing and was able to distinguish their movements through the thin fibre of his newspaper.

"Why would I want to do that?." Chris replied almost breezily as if he could not care less that this men did not look as if their request was made lightly.

"Cause you wouldn’t want all these innocent people to get hurt." The shorter of the two replied, ending the statement with a slight snigger that did nothing but irritate Chris to no end. He was one of those that shooting down dead would be a public service.

"They’re not going to get hurt anyway." The gunslinger answered indifferently, shifting position so slightly that it was unnoticeable to the two men standing between him and his paper. "I’m sorry boys, I’ve got prior engagements."

"Well I’m betting you’re going to be missing it." The taller one declared boldly and started the familiar movement towards the gun in his holster when he was suddenly halted by the audible click of a gun hammer being pulled back as a trigger was depressed.

When they were aware of their situation, Chris rose to his feet slowly, lowering the paper and facing the two would be assailants and replied coolly. "Maybe a walk would be nice." He grinned with a predatory smile. "Drop your guns first though." He ordered and then added with a sharp voice that broke no argument. "Now."

Reluctantly, both men unbuckled the their guns belts and let the weapons fall on the ground. No doubt the little one would undoubtedly have something else stashed elsewhere, his type always did, but Chris had enough of an advantage to ensure that even if he did have a weapon stashed elsewhere he would never have the chance to use it. The bored husbands around them had seen the exchange and quickly moved a discreet distance away to keep from getting caught in just another one more of those gunfights that was just a fact of life in the Territory, even in a town as large as Sweet Water.

Chris was glad. By no means at all, did he want a shootout to take place in front of a store full of pregnant women buying baby clothes, particularly when one of those women was Mary. "Kick them away." He responded once the gun belts had hit the dirt.

Cursing softly, the two men did as ordered, kicking dust and dirt in the air as they sent their weapons out of reach and lay completely at the mercy of this black garbed gunslinger with a gun to their belly. Mayborn contemplated rushing Larabee and then remembered that he was reputedly fast enough to but a bullet in both one of them before they could reach him to be of any threat. "Now what?" He asked, the question and surrender tasted bitter in his mouth.

"Turn around," Chris answered, still wearing that damned expression that nothing could faze him. "Slowly."

Having no choice but to obey, both men swallowed thickly before turning around to start walking.

"Where are you taking us?" Mayborn demanded as they were marched up the street, with Chris’ gun aimed firmly at their backs.

"Who told you could ask questions?" Chris drawled. In truth, he had no wish to open fire and while he might have sound unmindful of the people around him earlier, he was very concerned about his welfare. "Just keep walking up the street or else I might be inclined to take exception with why you bothering me."

"You low down coward," Mayborn hissed. "You’re gonna shoot us in the back."

Chris hardened, not liking to be accused of such a cowardly attack but he held his temper in check aware that the man was attempting to provoke him into doing something stupid. That tactic had been tried by better men that this kid and had failed. "If I was gonna shoot you at all, I’d done it back there."

"What you gonna do with us?" The smaller one who was so quick to snigger had no such contempt in his voice as he made the plea. In fact, he sounded terrified and Chris was unsurprised because men like this were the real cowards, who would put a bullet in your back, or knife while you slept. Chris had no patience for creatures like this and there was a time, he would have killed the man for just being what he was. However, those days were long past.

"Well I have business in town," Chris answered after a moment, once the sheriff’s office came into view. "Normally if I had the time, I’d be liable to put a couple of good sized holes into you two but since I can’t, I thought I might just leave you in the hands of a friend of mine.’

As they approached the large building that was Sweet Water’s jailhouse, his prisoner’s eyes widened with understanding. Chris and the Sheriff of Sweet Water were well acquainted after nearly three years of his playing lawman to Four Corners. Sheriff Anderson was a good man and he had turned a blind eye to Vin’s fugitive state because he had a healthy respect for what the seven did in the small town and how they had been an improvement to the prosperity of Four Corners. Thus Chris knew that Anderson would not mind doing him a little favour by taking care of these two men for the duration of his stay in Sweet Water.

"You’re turning us in?" Mayborn looked over his shoulder long enough to give Chris a scathing glare.

"Well I’m gonna leave you with the Sheriff for awhile until I’m done in town." Chris remarked, jabbing the gun in the small of Mayborn’s back to tell the man that even though he was taking this course of action, it was not wise to assume mercy for complacency. "However, if I see either of you in my sights again, it will be the last time."

"You’re pretty big talk for someone who has six men for you to hide behind." The man said viciously as they were forced to ascend the wooden steps that led to the jailhouse door.

Chris was aware that he was trying to find out if the others were present. They had been watching him earlier because they had been trying to discern if the rest of the seven were present and had only moved in because he had spotted them. Chris was not about to let them think any different even though they were not going to do very much about it from behind bars.

Upon entering the jailhouse, Chris made his greetings to Anderson who was more than happy to keep the duo locked up for the next day or so. Although they had not committed any crime in Sweet Water, Anderson was willing to overlook that fact as a favour to Chris Larabee who had extended the same professional courtesy during the last three years of their acquaintance. Anderson did not recognise either of the men but did remark they had ridden in only a day or so. Chris attempted to question them but neither were in the mood to talk and so the gunslinger decided that there was nothing left to do but keep an eye out for any more surprises such at his. Leaving his would be attackers in Anderson’s hands, Chris left the jailhouse and returned to the store, where things had settled down to its previous tedium.

He had just started reading his paper when Mary emerged from the store with a couple of boxes in her arm. Chris immediately rolled up the newspaper and went to help her with her packages. She gave him a little kiss as they met and began distributing the purchases she had just made, oblivious to anything out of the ordinary taking place while she had been inside the store.

"I’m sorry I took as long as I did." Mary apologised as they continued down the boardwalk, to fulfil the next requirement of her shopping agenda. "I’ll try to be quicker in the next place."

"Do what you gotta do." Chris said casually, not at all worried about how much time she took, since his concerns at the moment were with the two men he had encountered and what they had wanted with him. Chris did not want to worry Mary unnecessarily by telling her about them until he was sure what it is they were after. "I’ve got time to kill."

"If you’re sure," Mary looked at him uncertainly. After all he had not been very enthused about this trip to begin with and knew that he was tolerating it because of her. With that in mind, she was not about to take advantage of it by putting him through the ordeal any longer than she had to. "I just need to pick a few other things in my list then we can head home.

"Whatever you want." He smiled faintly, even though his eyes were watching everything carefully. "I’m sure I’ll find something to do."

* * *

"Did you find them?" Gunderson demanded of Quincy when the big man walked into the saloon.

He had been waiting inside of the saloon with Karlson, the last member of his gang who had been paying court to a working girl when Gunderson had discovered Larabee’s presence in town. For the past two hours, they had been awaiting the return of Mayborn and Skeet. The duo who were supposed to be return during that time, to report their findings regarding their observation of Chris Larabee’s movements in town as well as to confirm the presence of his men in town, had yet to appear. The allotted time had come and gone and there was still no sign of either Skeet or Mayborn. Finally, Gunderson had sent Quincy out to find them.

There had not been any news of a gunfight in town but that did not mean Larabee could not have taken out the kid and Skeet. Larabee was a stealthy bastard who was sneaky as well as he was fast. If Mayborn and Skeet were not here then Gunderson was certain they had ran into trouble. When Quincy’s huge bulk lumbered through the bat wing doors, with nothing less than a stormy expression on his face, Gunderson knew that he was right to be suspicious.

"They’re in jail!" Quincy glowered furiously as he reached the bar and barked an order at the barkeep, a rather slovenly looking man with a big belly and an apron that looked just as unhygienic as the rest of him.

"Jail?" Karlson, a veteran of the gang as long as Gunderson had one, looked at the man. "What are they doing there?" The man asked bewildered.

"Larabee took them in.’ Quincy retorted. "Those two idiots went up to him in broad daylight and let them him get the drop on them. They had to drop their guns in the middle of the street before he marched em both to the jail house, good as you please.

Quincy who was Swede in origin, was like the natives of that country, huge and muscular. Most of the time, his formidable volume was more than enough to give his adversaries reason to pause. Although Quincy was a fair hand with a gun, he did most of his killing by wrapping those thick fingers around a victim’s neck and snapping the bones beneath the skin like they were kindling. Although he was a borderline psychopath, Quincy was loyal to the men he rode with and conceived an attack upon them as an attack upon him. Larabee had unknowingly garnered the man’s utmost displeasure by overcoming Skeet and Mayborn.

"You sent those two on recon?" Karlson snorted. An old army sergeant, Karlson did not have much faith in the abilities of the two in question and preferred to scout out a potential target on his own. "Those two stick out like dogs balls. Larabee would have been on em in a minute."

"He was," Quincy drawled. "Man had em drop their guns in the middle of the street."

"I told them that he was slick." Gunderson snorted unsurprised by anything that he was hearing because he had not expected very much from either Skeet and Mayborn, in particular Skeet who would turn tail and run at the first sight of trouble.

"Let’s see how slick he is," Quincy’s blue eyes blazed as he downed the content of his glass in one loud gulp. "When I get through with him."

"Just don’t you kill him," Gunderson replied, facing the bar once again. "You better leave some for me."

"I’ll leave some for you alright," the huge Swede started walking away from the counter. " In big pieces for you to chew and spit out on when I’m done."

With that, he strode out of the room, causing anyone in his path to get out of the way, lest they angered the bear of a man whose temperament was as dangerous as he appeared to be, if he got it in his mind to take offence. Once he had gone, Karlson turned to Gunderson. Karlson had ridden with Gunderson the longest and was present at the incident had caused that sizeable scar that had been the constant reminder of Gunderson’s shame for the last four years. Karlson knew the gunfighter’s reputation well enough to know that it was never wise to tackle Chris Larabee without a plan or a cool head for that matter.

"You think Quincy might take him?" Karlson inquired nervously.

"He might." Gunderson answered but he did not appear very hopeful or concerned for that matter. "If he doesn’t then at least he would have softened up Larabee for me."

Karlson did not respond to that but thought silently that Quincy would have to soften Larabee  _a lot_  for Gunderson to be any match for the gunslinger.

* * *

"Chris, isn’t this lovely?" Mary asked as she looked at the crib of polished wood on the showroom floor of Sweet Water’s largest furniture shop.

To Chris, it looked more or less the same as every other crib that was on display however, he supposed only a woman could spot the differences that distinguished one piece from another. Besides cribs, there was a litany of gaily coloured furniture earmarked for toddlers scattered around the place with hopeful parents perusing the selection with as much ardent interest as himself and Mary. Well Mary at least. Chris was of the opinion that he could build something sturdier and was not that impressed by this contraption that looked as if it was put together by monkey and appeared too fragile for the important bundle it was supposed to support in slumber.

Of course, it was altogether possible that he was biased because he had built Adam’s crib and also because his attention was not so much focussed on baby furniture but rather what was going on outside the store. As of yet, he been unable to recall who the two men were that had come after him, even though he had searched his memory carefully for some evidence as to their identity. It was certainly no one he recalled meeting in recent memory although enemies seemed to fester over a great period of time. When Top Hat Bob had come after him, Chris could not even remember who the man had been to him to have incurred his wrath. However, that did not alter the fact that Bob still wanted his revenge. Perhaps the two men who had attempted to ambush him were of the same ilk.

"Its nice." He said indifferently, not caring one way or another which one she picked as long as she was happy with it. Chris supposed he ought to be grateful that none of the seven were here. He did not even want to imagine the sheer hell he would have to endure for the next  _ten thousand years_  if either Vin, Buck or Ezra saw him in here, picking baby furniture, not to mention the men who were out to kill him. As it was, all the other parents in the store were respectable looking and appeared like honest, Christian folk while he appeared as if he had no business being anywhere near a baby with his intense gaze and the scowl that remained just below the surface of his features.

Mary let out a sigh, aware that he was here only in body while his spirit was wishing to be anywhere else. She felt a surge of affection, knowing that he was enduring this only for her and decided to make the choice on her own since it would be more painless that way. She continued up the aisle, aware that the other people in the establishment were staring at her with puzzlement, wondering what a proper woman such as herself was in the company of such a… _bad element_. Mary could not help smile when the thought crossed her mind.

"You want to go to the saloon for awhile?" She asked.

"Why?" He met her gaze at her puzzled.

"Cause you’re bored out of your mind." Mary replied looking at him with a knowing expression on her face that indicated that anything he said to her reflecting the contrary would not be believed.

"I’m good." He answered shortly, not about to go anywhere and leave her alone.

"Are you sure?" Mary questioned once more, loving him deeply for putting up with her feminine demands. "You’ve convinced me that this is woman’s work. I’ve never seen you so out of place in my life. You have made me feel properly guilty for dragging you on this trip. I will never again ask you. You have my solemn promise."

"Mary," Chris looked at her. "You’re my wife, I’ve handled worse things than taking you shopping. Holding Buck’s head down after that hangover in Purgatorio comes to mind, rescuing Ezra from that Indian squaw who picked him for her mate and not to forget keeping Josiah from killing Vin after one of his dumb practical jokes."

"True," Mary laughed. "That boy has discovered a world of possibility since becoming engaged to a doctor with a wealth of strange concoctions, particularly diuretics."

Chris chuckled in agreement. "I’m okay," he replied, not wishing to tell her that his reasons for remaining were not just to do with undertaking his husbandly duties. With the possibility of danger from unknown threats, Chris was not leaving her alone. It seemed that she was always falling into the hands of his enemies whenever he was not around. This time, he was not taking any chances.

However, no sooner than he had made a declaration, he saw a rather large man peering through the window. Judging by the looks of him, Chris was certain that this was not a man who was interested in furniture for a house or a baby. Besides the fact that the man was enormous, his gaze rested on Chris and upon doing so narrowed his eyes in calculation. Hiding all expression on his face, Chris winced inwardly because the stranger now knew he was in Sweet Water with a woman and that woman might be the way to get to him.

"You go on and buy what you like." He answered kissing her lightly on the nose. "I’m going outside for a smoke." He said warmly, showing nothing of the danger awaiting him outside as he pulled away from her.

"Okay," Mary smiled none the wiser as he departed.

Chris strode casually down the main aisle of the showroom, making a beeline for the nearest exit to confront his latest assailant. Stepping out onto the boardwalk, his gaze swept across the street and saw that man had disappeared from sight. How a giant that size could simply vanish was beyond Chris but the gunslinger was far too suspicious to believe the man had gone very far. Deciding to look around a little more closely, he continued up the wooden path that lead up and down Sweet Water, in the hopes of finding him again.

He had no sooner cleared the front face of the furniture shop and was passing in between the narrow crack between that building and another when an arm the size of a tree trunk reached out and dragged him into the shadows with surprising speed. Chris was flung against the wall and felt his head swim a little when the back of his skull slammed onto the brick. He barely had a chance to recover when he saw a huge fist coming directly for his face. Instinctively, with faster reflexes than his attacker, Chris moved out of the way, narrowly avoiding being hit.

"Stand still Larabee," a deep voice growled a warning as the fist pulled back in time. "It will make this hurt a lot less."

The voice of course, came from the behemoth that had been watching him earlier and was of no surprise to Chris. Chris backed away from the man who towered against him, quickly thinking up his strategy for attack. Overpowering his attacker was not an option. He simply did not have the physical bulk or the strength however; Chris had no trouble believing he could beat him.

A massive arm, thick and powerful reached for Chris with surprising speed, kick starting their battle into full momentum. Chris dropped to his feet and delivered a sharp kick to the man’s knees. He bellowed with rage as his leg gave way and his knee slammed against the ground. He had expected Chris to not put up much a fight. However, Chris was perfectly aware that despite his strength, the man’s bulk limited the speed by which he could move. He raised both arms and lunged at the space Chris was occupying. Chris stepped out of reach easily and delivered another powerful kick to his mid torso. His attacker staggered back in pain and left enough of an opening for Chris to make another hit. The gunslinger advanced far enough to throw a fist into his Neanderthal like skull, careful to avoid getting too close in case the man chose to retaliate faster than Chris gave him credit. He focussed control strength into the punch, making certain it was not some wild blow that would disperse energy or the effect.

This man had to be taken down hard and fast.

Rage was starting to overcome Quincy and Larabee’s blow served to provoke his fury and allow him to take the punch with almost no effect. He shook it off the pain and lunged forward like a bear, rumbling forward until all Larabee could do to escape his clutches was to leap out of his way. The gunslinger rolled out of the way as Quincy propelled himself forward almost running into the wall.

Chris knew that the angrier his assailant became, the more adrenlin would keep him going and Chris could not afford that. Before the man had time to do anything else, Chris threw a powerful sidekick into the man’s kidney. He dropped to his knees, crying out in pain and although Chris had some moral objections about fighting that way, he knew it would have to take a back seat to survival. Besides, there was a world of difference between shooting a man in the back and engaging him in hand to hand combat. Not allowing it any time to recover, Chris threw another kick into his side in the same place, further incapacitating him and flipping him on his back from the force of the blow. Amazingly enough, he somehow managed to stand up, although it appeared he was still rather disorientated. Chris did not doubt that he would quickly return to his manic rage if he did not act quickly.

Chris rammed his fist into the side of the man’s head, once again applying a focussed blow. While his attacker appeared unable to retaliate, Chris had no choice but to continue. The giant could snap his bones like kindling if Chris allowed him the chance. His punches could not be pulled and they had to be fast to keep the man from using the pause in between to recover. Chris ignored the rising pain in his limbs as he struck blow after blow. He felt his knuckles connect but the point soon arrived when the pain faded away. It disappeared to a distant place in his mind, just as forgotten as the ache in his body and any moral dilemma that still remained that there was no reason to reduce this man to pulp.

No longer holding back, Chris felt a rush of adrenalin of his own surging through his veins as he threw a rapid succession of punches. Chris felt the blood rushing to his head as blow after blow was delivered, until he could feel nothing except the determination to stop this man who had dared to intrude upon him and Mary. Apart of him refused to allow anything to taint her day. Mary had wanted nothing more than to indulge herself in the joy of impending motherhood and Chris was allowing no one to take that way from her.

Suddenly, he realised his opponent was no longer fighting. Chris blinked as the red veil lifted over his eyes and disappeared into the exhaustion that had finally come for him and the man completely unconscious. Chris stepped away and let out a deep breath, wiping the sweat from his brow as he wondered what else this day was going to throw at him. Like the previous two before him, Chris did not recognise this assailant any more than he had the others. However, Chris had more immediate problems to deal with other than the identity of the comatose man. Reaching for the belt around his thick waist, Chris removed it and bound his large hands together before dragging the man to his feet, which was not at all and easy task since the man weighed the approximate tonnage of a buffalo.

Dropping him inside the cell with Sheriff Anderson’s aid, Chris decided he needed a drink after expending so much energy and took a deep breath as Anderson slammed the cell door hard behind the still groggy man, who had no idea where he was at the time.

"You think you’ll be coming back with any more guests Larabee?" Anderson asked almost amused.

"Day’s still young," Chris retorted as he started towards the door, remembering he had to get back to Mary. "And my wife hasn’t even bought a bassinette yet."

* * *

Mary was at the register with her selection for a crib when Chris returned to the store and found her. She appeared as if she had not missed him at all and Chris wondered if must be nice to live in the world she did where she had no suspicion at what had been taking place around her while she conducted her shopping spree. Chris could not say that he was not grateful for that because he wanted her to enjoy her day, without having to worry about all the trouble that seemed to find them. Well actually trouble usually found him  _first_  and then made its way to her.

"Hey, that looks good." He said approving of her choice, knowing the gesture would mean more to her than anything else. The crib was made of polished wood and while Chris was adamant that he could have fashioned better himself with a good piece of maple or pine, he had to begrudgingly admit that if they were reduced to store bought, he could live with her choice.

"You think so?" She asked, hoping he did so mean it and was not just saying that for her benefit. "I thought I’d pick something that could be for either a boy or girl."

"I don’t think he or she is really going to notice." Chris teased as she finished paying for it. Picking up the small frame of wood and paint, he waited for Mary to finish her transaction before she joined him once more.

"Much more to do?" He asked, starting to consider whether or not it was such a good idea for them to remain in Sweet Water with everything that had taken place already.

"I just have a few more things to pick up at the local apothecary for Alex and then I’m done." Mary replied. "We should get going anyway if we want to get home before it gets too dark. Besides, I don’t want to leave Billy alone too much."

"All right," Chris nodded in agreement. "Best get to it then," he answered. However, he did not add that his agreement had more to do with getting  _her_  back to Four Corners, where she would be protected by the seven while he devoted more time to the question of the three men presently languishing inside the jailhouse.

"Never know what’s gonna turn up next." He remarked as they walked out of the room.

* * *

"You’re not gonna believe this." Karlson looked at Gunderson with disbelief.

Gunderson did not need to hear it. The astonished expression on his old friend’s face was all the telling he needed to know that Quincy had failed. Deciding that the time had come to get things done himself, since it look like none of his companions were up to the task of meeting Chris Larabee without getting their asses handed to them on a platter, the outlaw turned away from the counter and started towards the door.

"Let me guess, he took down Quince right?" Gunderson growled as Karlson fell into stride with him.

"Not only did he take him down, half the town saw him dragging Quince to the sheriff after beating the crap out of him." Karlson exclaimed, starting to question whether or not it was prudent to go after Larabee, no matter how much Gunderson wanted his vengeance.

"Damn Swede." Gunderson muttered as he burst through the bat wing doors and emerged into the sunlight. At that moment, the outlaw realised just how much he had been drinking by the powerful glare of sunshine that poured through his eyes and made him flinch at its brightness. It took a few minutes for the spots to dissipate before he could remember what he had been trying to say. "I knew he was a lot of talk! Larabee’s too quick to let a big oaf like Quince get a hold of him."

"That may be," Karlson agreed. "But perhaps we better think about this August."

Gunderson paused and looked over his shoulder at the friend who had yet to catch up with him, reacting at the man’s use of his first name. Karlson did not call him August unless he was about to put forward a suggestion he did not like. "What are you getting at, Ben?" He returned the favour as he stared into his old friend’s jowled face, worn by time and drink.

"I think maybe we ought to just let it go." Karlson admitted after a moment, when the courage surfaced enough to let him say it. He appeared unusually anxious which only heightened Gunderson’s annoyance.

"Let him go?" Gunderson’s eyes widened in horror at the very suggestion. "After he did this to me?" He grabbed Karlson by the shirt with one hand while pointing to the scar across his forehead with his other.

"August, he’s a lot tougher than he looks and he ain’t as drunk as he was when he did that to you! Ain’t you ever thought that if he could do that to you when he was a blind drunk as a mule, what he might do if he’s sober?" Karlson countered.

"He wasn’t drunk!" Gunderson cried defiantly, refusing to admit

"Of course he was!" Karlson returned. "The man was so wasted he didn’t know who you were when he shot you. All he knew was you were getting in the way of the two bits he paid for Josie. Hell, he couldn’t even stand up when shot you and he had bottle or Red Eye in the hand he didn’t use for shooting!"

"I can take him!" Gunderson barked angrily, not about to let Larabee win again, even through the verbal taunts of his supposed friends. Dragging Karlson’s face closer to his own, Gunderson hissed out loud. "Are you gonna help me or not?" He glared, waiting to see where the man stood and more than prepared to kill him if he did not get the answer he needed.

Karlson stared back and Gunderson and knew the decision he faced and the consequences he faced if he gave the wrong answer. Taking a deep breath, he nodded in answer. "All right August," he said finally conceding defeat. "You want to take him, we’ll take him."

"Good," Gunderson replied, releasing him. "We’ll take him all right, don’t you worry about that."

* * *

Chris was nervous.

He was nervous because usually when they were reaching the end of the tunnel was usually when the ground gave way beneath them. Mary was presently inside the local apothecary, no doubt purchasing an entire plethora of strange chemicals for Alexandra Styles who used them to make her unconventional medicines. He remembered once how he had seen Alex conjure up a disgusting concoction made of bread mould that miraculously healed a severe infection one of them had suffered, claiming that it was one of the herbal remedies discovered by her father during his travels. As he paced the ground outside the establishment, waiting for his wife to appear while he took stock of the surrounding area, he hoped that things would remain calm until he got her out of town. Unfortunately, calm was usually when he became the most edgy.

This time there was good reason for it.

Chris knew they were trouble the minute he saw them appear on the street. One of them looked vaguely familiar but other than that, Chris could not identify either man. They marched up the street towards him and seeing the enemy out in the open, centred Chris’ calm considerably. He stopped pacing and leaned against a post outside the apothecary, hoping that Mary took as long as she did inside these premises, as she had been everywhere else today.

Unbuttoning the flap of his holster, his hand drifted to the ivory handled peacemaker that sat nestled within, awaiting his lightning fast reflexes to bring it to life. Chris watched the duo approach and could tell that the more rotund of the two was extremely anxious and fearful for his life. The one with the scar on his forehead looked mad but his rage was unfocussed and Chris had a feeling, easily overcome if enough fear gave it incentive to dissolve. Chris remained calm, watching them closely as they neared him, oblivious to everyone else on the street.

Finally, they closed enough distance to regard each other and the combatants faced one another on the declared field of battle. Chris had not moved from the post, appearing almost at ease while the new arrivals were tense and anxious. He put the cheroot to his lips and lit it, taking a deep puff and then blowing the smoke out with languid calm, waiting for someone to speak and begin the game. Chris might have been uncertain about everything else in the field of life but this was one thing he could do well and as he aimed that high powered glare at the enemy, he could see them falter under his intense gaze.

"I’ve waited a long time for this Larabee." Gunderson replied. "You’re not walking away from this."

Chris nodded. "Mind telling me what ‘this’ happens to be?"

Gundersons’ eyes widened, realising Chris had no idea what he was talking about. "You ain’t getting out this that easily. You ain’t playing dumb!"

"I don’t play dumb." Chris answered smoothly. "Do you?"

"You’re smart talking ain’t gonna get you out of this." Gunderson went for his guns and found himself staring down the barrel of a peacemaker that had moved so fast, he did not even notice it until he saw the sunlight gleaming off the barrel. Chris had been provoked him, making him careless, distracting the other with their talk and giving him the opportunity to go for his gun with a narrow margin of time to aim first.

"I don’t know who you are." Chris said firmly, his finger poised over the gun that was staring at both Gunderson and Karlson, who were staring open mouthed at the peacemaker, while they had yet to reach their own guns, let alone allow their fingers tips to reach the butt to draw. "I do know that I don’t fancy on killing you unless you give me a reason too."

"You did this!" Gunderson flared in frustration and rage. He pointed to the wound on his head. "You’re the one!"

Chris could not recall the man, nor could he recall the giving anyone that injury. "When?" He asked genuinely curious as to the answer.

"Vesta City, four years ago!" The outlaw growled, spittle flying out of his mouth as he spat out the words angrily.

"Vesta City?" Chris considered that information and then suddenly, he felt a key snap open in his mind and the answer tumbled out and brought a smile to it when he remembered.

"You’re right," Chris said after a moment. "I do remember you. You had a girl named....Posie or something?"

"Her name was Josie!" Gunderson roared, images of red hair and full lips coming to mind. "You stole her from me."

"No." Chris shook his head. "I didn’t steal her from you. Back then, I was too drunk to steal anyone’s woman, let alone get into a fight over a saloon girl. However," Chris regarded Karlson with a smile. "I do remember your friend was mighty comfortable with the lady and if I recall correctly, the going rate was two bits wasn’t it?"

Gunderson turned to Karlson, suspicion bleeding into his face. "What’s he talking about Ben?"

"What I’m talking about, is that I wasn’t in the room when you burst in on your lady and I sure as hell didn’t try shoot you. What I did do was keep your friend over there from finishing the job when he missed. I happened to be passing by when I saw the door open and I’ve got this little thing about letting one man a bullet in another when he’s faced down on his belly." Chris answered with look of triumph on his face as Karlson’s went white. There was no doubt for either Chris or Gunderson that Chris’ story was the truth.

"You told me that Larabee was the one who shot me!" Gunderson shouted, suddenly realising that he had been duped all this time. Karlson’s expression was more or less proof of Chris allegation. Of course Karlson would shift the blame on someone else because he knew how Gunderson reacted to anyone touching Josie. And Josie would not want Karlson killed if he was her lover so naturally she would corroborate Karlson’s story that Chris Larabee had been responsible.

"Now August...." Karlson started to stammer.

"Explain yourself Ben." Gunderson hissed.

* * *

Mary emerged from the shop to see Chris watching the undertaker removing one body while the sheriff was carting away a man with an odd scar on his forehead. While she had been inside the establishment, she had heard some commotion but had waited until she had all her purchases before coming out to investigate. Besides, Chris would let her know if it was anything to worry about, if he were not caught in the middle of it. However, he was exactly where she had left him, leaning against the wooden column under the front awning of the building, watching the proceedings with passing interest.

"What happened?" Mary asked as she surveyed the scene of what was obviously a gunfight.

"Two outlaws, fighting over a woman I think." Chris drawled, hands in his pocket with a look of complete innocence on his face. "One shot the other, you know the story."

"How awful," Mary watched the crowd dissipating. "Well I’m glad no one else got caught in the cross fire."

"Yeah," Chris agreed, refusing to add anything further. "You done?" He asked as he liberated her of some of her parcels.

"Yes, that’s the last of it." Mary replied, glad to have the help but still hung onto one parcel because she hated to make him do everything. After all, he had been so patient as it was.

"Good," Chris answered as they started walking towards the livery. "We should head back to Four Corners," he remarked glancing at the sky. "Its gonna be dark in a couple of hours."

"Of course," Mary said linking her free arm through his. "Chris, I want to thank you for putting up with me today. I know you did not want to come in the first place and it must have been terribly dull for you just waiting around for me all day." With that, she planted a warm kiss on his lips in a gesture of gratitude and affection.

Chris looked at her with a completely straight face and responded. "Don’t worry, I managed to keep busy."


	3. Shortcuts

The wind was blowing through the trees and although the rain had yet to come, the air felt damp. One could feel the moisture each time a breath was taken. It weighed heavily in the lungs as all things solid with form would inside that sensitive organ. The summer was almost over and fast approaching autumn. While the leaves were beginning to brown from the heat, their shade would turn even darker during the penultimate months before winter. Vin Tanner preferred spring to summer, he liked the green of growth because it held promise of what could be as opposed to summer, which meant things were at their prime and could only get worse from here.

For today however, he could not say he minded summer all that much.

True, the storm was almost upon them and it would be wise to take a slight shortcut at this point to avoid caught in its awesome fury because the rumbling of thunder and the occasional flashes of light through the thick cumulous clouds promised a rather fierce one. However, he was riding on his horse, in the open spaces of the Territory, with the woman he loved, wrapping her arms around his waist as they rode on to Coventry and with all that factored in, Vin decided the day was not so bad after all. He loved riding with Alex this way because she would remind him of his presence each time she drew breath and released it against the nape of his neck, sending tingles down his skin.

Instead of taking two horses, they had opted on leaving Four Corners with just Peso because it would make the trip much faster if she could ride with him. The storm was almost upon them and Vin’s hope of reaching Coventry directly was fading fast with its eminent arrival. He knew of a faster route and since he had only one horse to worry about, it seemed like the most prudent course of action to take.

"I’m gonna to take a detour at the pass ahead." He declared as they galloped through the flat plain of knee high grass, scorched amber by the summer heat.

"Okay." Alex answered, understanding why because the sky looked rather ominous overhead and Four Corners was not that long behind them. Aside from the wind and rumbling thunder, the air was rather silent. All the native wildlife had sensibly gone to ground, choosing to sit out the rains before it came. "Do you think we will make it there before the rain."

"No." Vin said with absolute certainty of that fact. "We may not be in it too long but we’re gonna get wet just the same." He remarked, casting his gaze across the terrain and seeing more confirming signs that his statement was the truth.

"Why does this always happen to us, whenever we go anywhere?" Alex groaned, not at all happy to be soaked to the skin by the time they got to their destination and supposed she ought to be grateful that she had come prepared this time.

"Can’t say," Vin replied neutrally, even though his true feelings on the matter had a very good answer to her query. It might have a little something to do with the fact that no matter how unwise the circumstances, Alex would go to any lengths to reach a patient. While this was an admirable quality, one that Vin appreciated because it made her the physician she was, however, it could be damned inconvenient at times. "Just lucky, I guess. Maybe we’ll find a cabin on the way." He looked over his shoulder at her with a wolfish grin.

"Oh you are so funny." She frowned. While some aspects of the trip to Agnes Doherty’s had been life changing, the journey for most part had been three days of hell. It was a toss up whether or not they would be lovers or dead at the end of it, considering the emotions that had been displayed by both of them at the time. "Just remember to keep that to a minimum when we get to the nunnery."

"This the same place where Mary and the rest of you girls got those nun’s outfits to break you out of jail?" Vin asked.

"That’s the one," Alex could not help chuckle as she pictured her best friends wearing nun habits as they played the performance of their lives for Sheriff Pierce so they could rescue her. "And I’ll have you know they did not break me out of jail, I was not supposed to be there in the first place."

"You weren’t supposed to be going to Eagle Bend in the first place." He snorted.

"Hey, I am a grown woman you know." She looked at him with mock offense. "I have the right to go where I please and if that entails taking off to Eagle Bend to take part in a card game then I will do so even if I risk capturing the attention of a homicidal sheriff who wants to take me......." she drifted off seeing the sarcastic expression of triumph on his face. "Oh shut up."

Vin flashed her an affectionate grin as they reached Baker’s Pass. Instead of taking the usual trail that would eventually take them into the heart of Coventry, Vin directed Peso towards a more uneven trail that revealed its disuse by the overgrown grass and the overhanging branches. Alex kept her head down as they continued up the path for a few minutes until they broke through the shrubs and reached a clear trail. Although Vin’s detour seemed a little rough, Alex did not question his decision to take them this way, after all, he knew the land a lot better than she did. A slight drop of water on her cheek immediately prompted her to look skywards and she saw more water coming down on them with pregnant drops.

"Do you want to stop?" Vin asked as the rain started to come down on them.

"No it’s fine." She replied, pulling the hood of her riding cloak over her head, to keep the rain off. "Let’s try and get there before it gets any worse."

"Its gonna get that and worse." He muttered under his breath although it was not a declaration that was loud enough for her to hear but she nonetheless did anyway.

"You didn’t have to come with me you know." She said hotly. "I could have gotten there on my own."

"You’d get caught in the rain Alex and then I have to come looking for you." He retorted, aware of the annoyance in her voice.

"I can look after myself." Alex declared firmly, her ire well and truly raised whenever her ability to fend for herself was called into question.

"I’m sure you can." He rolled his eyes. "Look, I wouldn’t be no kind of man if I let my wife go roaming about on her own, when there’s a storm coming okay?" He hoped that would be something of a conciliatory gesture.

"I’m not your wife yet." She pointed out defiantly, a clear indication that she was far from happy with the situation just yet.

"Oh is that how it is?" He looked over his shoulder at her, starting to feel his own annoyance escalate. The rain was picking up its pace now, battering the earth with large drops that could not be distinguished. He could feel the wet seeping through his clothes and the chill starting to set into his skin. This was the last thing he needed right now. "And whose fault is that?" He asked.

"Yours." Alex said with a smug smile of satisfaction.

"Mine?" Vin burst out, his voice raising an octave in exclamation. "How is my fault?" He demanded to know.

"Well you are the one whose let all your  _good_  friends tell you horror stories of weddings that are three ringed circuses, that everything time I bring up the subject, you look like you want to disappear into the hills or something." Alex declared, wiping some water off her nose that was dribbling over the edge of her hood onto her skin.

Vin faced front again because he could not deny that part of her response. It was true. He did seem to get nervous about wedding talk. He had assumed it would be a simple matter of getting a preacher, in this case Josiah and doing it. He had never considered the possibility of suits, dresses, reception halls and place cards. That was a little more fuss than he was used to and Alex was the town doctor, for sure everyone would want to turn for the thing and celebrate with them. Vin could not imagine anything worse than having stranger looking at him on the most important day of his life.

"That’s not true."

"You’re right," Alex replied, catching the expression on his face before he had turned away which more or less confirmed his fear on the subject. "Mexico is closer."

"No!" Vin groaned. "It ain’t like that at all." He tried to convince her. "I want to marry you. Damn, I want that more than anything else but I don’t want to be doing it in front of whole bunch of people, I mean what if it don’t work out?"

"What if it don’t work out?" She said through her teeth. "Have you actually pictured or even given concept to the possibility that it might not work out?" Alex said softly because that had never crossed her mind at all. Oh she expected there to be difficulties, this was after all marriage, and difficulties and marriage were symbiotic words, like men and pain in the ass. However, she had never fathomed the idea of their marriage not working out ever. Alex had pictured herself growing old with Vin the moment she realised she loved him and that image kept her warm on the nights when he was out on the trail with the rest of the seven or whenever she worried about the price on his head back then.

"Well..." Vin started to stammer because that was obviously not the case with her and he tried to think carefully how to get out of it. "Its only right that I think about it. I mean we ain’t really lived with each other, you know as man and wife. There might be something we......" He glanced at her and saw the storm brewing on her face was even worse then the one around them at present.

_Oh shit._

Vin had expected her to yell at him or knock him off his horse but she did neither. What she did was worse. She went very quiet and her lower lip quivered with emotion and disappointment. "I never thought it would end badly between us. Not at all. Marrying you was going to be the happiest day of my life. Every night since that dance we went together has been just wonderful, even the bad times. I couldn’t imagine being with anyone after that because I knew you would never hurt me and you’d always love me. I never thought you could do anything that would ever make me wish you were gone Vin."

"Aw hell....." Vin pulled the reins up and stopped Peso from moving before he turned in his saddle towards her. "I love you Alex and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I keep thinking that we ought to get married the way we planned, quiet like and then I get to thinking that maybe it ain’t fair on you. You’re a lady, you deserve the kind of wedding day that ladies get, with all the fancy trimmings and stuff you gals like. I don’t want to take that away from you."

"Oh Vin," she embraced him hard and their mouths met in a kiss of passion, dueling tongues of heat as their lips locked in exploration. The warm heat of their bodies pressed together in passion made the rain and the cold forgotten for a brief time. Vin felt his body respond instinctively to her soft full lips and rekindled the desire he had to suppress each time he felt that golden skin brushing against his. His mouth moved past her lips, down her chin, burying itself in the softness of her neck as he pulled at the cloak, exposing her face to the rain as he nibbled on the soft flesh.

She leaned further across him, until his hands were able to pull apart the cloak and cup the breast under the fabric of her shirt and began kneading with soft caresses. Vin could feel himself hardening as the rain pelted down on them and Alex was responding so sensuously to him with her soft moans that he knew that if he wanted to take her here and now, she would allow him. His fingers delved through the part of her shirt, making its way past the folds of lacy under things until he actually felt skin. Pulling back the mixture of cotton and lace, his fingers found the point of her nipple and began teasing it sensuously.

"Oh Vin........" she groaned at his touch.

"Maybe we ought to stop for a while," he said hoarsely, not caring about anything at the moment.

"Yes," she whispered, when suddenly a powerful crack of lighting roared through the air with such force that Peso reared up on his hind legs and almost knocked them both out of the saddle because of their precarious positioning.

Vin immediately grabbed the reins and brought Peso back under control while Alex buttoned herself back to respectability. When he had settled own the horse, he looked at her and both of them started to chuckle at how easy it was to become lost with each other once the mood took them. Although he still wanted her and wanted her badly, Vin had decided perhaps they ought to get where they were going before the weather got any worse.

"And you said I’d have trouble keeping my hands off you." She said mischievously as he dug his heels into Peso and prompted the horse to start moving again.

"Well I had to do something to let you know that I don’t want anyone else." He replied as she leaned her body against his buckskin coat, not at all caring that it was wet.

"Nice try," she commended. "Although I wish you would get it in your head that I don’t want a fancy wedding. You’re not taking anything away from me Vin by wanting something simpler. I can’t stand all that stuff myself. I saw how it was at Chris and Mary’s wedding and believe me, its all together too much fuss."

Vin wished he could believe her because he wanted to put this issue to rest once and for all. He wanted her for his wife. He wanted to be able to wake up every morning and find her by his side. Vin had never thought he could feel so powerfully about anyone but the moment he had laid eyes on Alexandra Styles, he knew she was made for him and every day since she had told she loved him had been a confirmation of that belief. Every time he had to pull himself out of her bed to sneak out of her house or watch her leave to return in secret from a visit to the shack, Vin felt his heart and soul going with her.

"All right," he finally conceded defeat. "When we get back to town, what say we get Josiah to marry us?"

"I think that’s a good idea." Alex smiled in pleasure at theirs finally coming to a decision.

"But I’m telling you now," he said firmly. "I ain’t never gonna want to hear about you not getting the wedding you wanted once we’ve done it. Right?"

Alex was too happy to care. "Absolutely." She answered, barely able to conceal her smile and hugged him tighter as they continued the trip to Coventry. Besides, if she wanted a big wedding. They could always have it later.

Of course Vin did not need to know that.

* * *

Vin’s short cut required them to travel over water but fortunately, the waterway through which they had to traverse in order to reach Coventry, came complete with a barge of sorts that required a pulley system operated by those it was ferrying from bank to another to pull it across. When the reached the banks of the river they were required to cross, the rain had progressed form teeming and had definitely entered storm territory. Sheets of water were lashing at them as the wind whipped at their clothes with harsh intensity. Alex's cloak was billowing in the air as she took refuge behind Peso as Vin walked to the pulley that would bring the barge from the other side of the river so they could use it to travel across.

Although he did not voice it, he was taking particular note at the furious surge of water that was rushing past them. The strength of the current looked terribly fierce, not to mention choppy and as Vin pulled the barge back towards them, he could see the strain in the structure as it struggled against the waves that were smashing hard against it. However, the alternative was to go back and Vin had to believe that the barge would manage one more trip since it had remained intact so far.

"Vin," Alex said coming along side of him as he pulled the ropes of the pulley. "Is that thing safe?" She asked looking at the barge.

"Its still in one piece." He said confidently because if he showed concern then she would started to feel afraid and getting them across was going to take enough of his attention without his having to worry about how she was feeling. "I think it should be okay."

The barge shuddered a little on its return to their side of the river and appeared to be quite sturdy although it was hard to say because the flow of current was considerably less at the embankment then it was in the middle. Upon reaching them, Vin gestured for Alex to get on while he went to lead Peso onto the barge. The horse was skittish about being on the device probably because it looked as unsteady to his faithful companion as it did to Vin. The pounding rain and the powerful gusts of wind were not helping the creature’s temperament either and it took a few seconds before he could settle Peso enough to bring him forward.

Alex in the meantime, found herself holding the hand rails that surrounded the sides of the barge with a firm grip, not liking the fact that they had to trust their safety to this ancient piece of travel that did not at all look very comforting by the way it creaked each time she stepped on the planks beneath. She watched Vin leading Peso from the pontoon onto the barge, aware that the horse’s eyes were wide with fear and Alex had never seen Peso afraid of anything. The horse was very much like his master, seldom afraid to launch itself into trouble no matter what the consequences and she could feel her own anxieties starting to bubble forth in face of what they were about to do.

"You okay?" He asked, seeing the apprehension on Alex’s face.

"I’m fine." She answered with a faint smile, trying to hide her nervousness at the buoyant movements of the wood above the water. "Let’s just get this over and done with," she retorted.

Vin nodded in understanding, appreciating her concerns because he felt the same way himself. Without saying another word, he began pulling the rope and the barge heaved into motion beneath them. "Alex," he called as Peso started to stamp his hooves. "Could you just hang on to the reins?"

"Sure." She hurried over and took Peso’s reins and ran a palm against his flank, hoping that the sensation of human touch would do something to soothe the horse’s fears. "Its okay boy," she whispered in its ear. "Its gonna be okay."

Peso seemed to settle down after that and Vin could not help but throw his lover a warm smile. "I thought I was the only one who could do that."

"Well," she teased. "This usually works on you so I thought it might work on Peso." She gave him a cheesy smile as she said that.

"I’ll get you for that." He responded.

The barge pulled further and further from the shore and the journey away became fraught with more trepidation. The barge began to sway under the constant hammering by the rain and the wind. Peso was becoming more and more nervous. He was snorting and neighing the further across they went until Vin was starting to believe that the horse knew something they did not. Alex was having a great deal of trouble keeping him under control and the cajoling that had worked earlier did not have the least impact on Peso now.

"Alex let him go!" Vin declared, having no choice but to keep pulling the barge to the other side.

"He’ll jump off!" Alex cried out defiantly. Peso meant just as much to her as he to Vin. She refused to let the animal drown if she could help it.

"Let him go!" Vin roared. If Peso jumped off, Vin could be fairly certain that the animal was a good enough swimmer to make it to the other side. He could not say the same for Alex if Peso took her with him.

"Damn!" She swore and released her hold of the reins. Peso continued to stamp his feet and pushed himself onto his hind legs as his fear escalated. The barge was in the centre of the river and rocking about precariously from both the wind and the currents beneath it. Water sloshed against the sides, spilling onto the floor and splashing them with cold wet moisture. Alex tried to back away from the frantic animal but as the barge’s shaking became worse, the slick floor hindered her retreat.

Peso reared himself up on his hindquarters again, doing so abruptly that he knocked Alex off her feet. She hit the wood, the side of her head impacting hard against the wet surface. The downed human further frightened the animal and it backed away, aware that it had done something wrong.

"Alex!" Vin cried out as he saw her fall, rain lashing at his eyes as he tried to squint and clear his vision enough to go towards her.

He let go of the rope and started towards her when suddenly, he heard a loud crack. Around him, pandemonium started to take place as the wooden rivets began popping out of their places in the seams of the barge. It took an instant for him to realise that the barge was breaking up and in desperation ran across the craft to reach Alex as it started to crumble away. Alex was still dazed from her injury; he could see rivulets of blood running down the side of her head. He did not think she was hurt badly but he wanted to reach her before the barge started to break up completely.

He never had the chance at the floor separate beneath him, creating a large fissure of water and froth that surge through as what he was standing on gave way. He was still on the part of the barge that remained mostly afloat because of his size but the section Alex had been lying on was small and started to sink immediately. Peso had wisely disembarked and was fighting the swirling currents to get back to shore.

"Alex!" He shouted as she scrambled to her feet and tried to escape the rising water. Thinking fast, he grabbed a hold of the rope that had snapped free of the barge and was hanging limply on the ground but still attached to the other side. Taking a few steps back, he made a running start and jumped through the wind and the rain to reach her. She was struggling to remain on what was left of the barge, trying to leave it to the very last moment to take her changes in the choppy water, when Vin landed next to her. The force of his landing tipped the barge over and threw them both into the water.

Vin kept a firm grip on the rope even though everything was going to hell around him. The currents were strong and threatened to drag him under as the water claimed him but the tracker kicked hard and managed to escape it powerful pull into a watery grave. He broke surface with a loud gasp and immediately started searching for Alex. It was almost impossible to see anything other that the crashing waves around him however, he saw her hair on the surface as the currents and the weight of her clothes pulled her down.

Wasting no time, he started swimming towards her as he saw her pushing herself to the surface to steal a hungry breath, before the pressure forcing her down started to win out and he could see the despair on her face as she attempted to remain afloat.

"Alex hold on!" He shouted and got a mouthful of water for his trouble, gurgling out his words. However it was enough to give her focus and she immediately started swimming towards him, struggling against the hindrance of clothes to make some of the crossing needed to reach him.

Vin clung to the rope as he struggled forward, the chord of his hat pulling at his throat as it threatened to be swept away by the water. He swam as hard as he could, until finally his hand reached hers and he was able to wrap his fist around her wrist and pull her the rest of the distance. One hand coiled firmly around the rope that would drag them to safety, Vin pulled Alex towards him until she was able to wrap her hands around his neck.

"Thank god!" She coughed. "I couldn’t stay up anymore."

"Hang on to me," he ordered once her arms were securely around him.

Alex nodded, clearly too afraid to do much else and Vin started pulling them both towards the shore, feeling the rope cut into his palms as he fought wind, rain and current to force them through the breadth of the river. The embankment seemed so far away even though they were closing the distance between it. The water had turned icy cold and the rain was making it hard to see but Vin concentrated on nothing else except getting across because failure would not only condemn himself to death but also Alex and that was not something he was prepared to accept under any circumstances.

His arms ached with pain and he could feel blood in his palms as the rope rubbed his skin raw but somehow Vin continued the laborious journey to the shore until finally, they could both feel land underneath their feet. The currents remained as strong as every until finally, they were far enough along the incline to be able to crawl out of the water. When they finally reached shore, both Alex and Vin collapsed on the soft sand gasping with exhaustion. Vin in particular because it was his strength that had saved both their lives. For a moment, he could only lie there, breathing hard as he tried to capture his breath as the terrible ache in his arms started to fade slightly.

"Vin," Alex moved first. "Are you alright?" She asked shaking him.

"I’m okay," he said after a moment, still breathing hard. He raised his head in her direction. "Are you hurt?" His eyes filled with concern.

"I’m fine," she answered wiping more rain out of her eyes. "I’m wet and tired but I’m okay."

Suddenly, Peso appeared out of the bushes, looking just a bedraggled as both of them. The creature approached them almost contritely as if trying to make an apology for abandoning them earlier. The horse came up to Vin and nudged the tracker gently with its long nose.

"I guess we’re all doing okay." Vin smiled and lay his head down to rest again.

* * *

The rain did not stop despite what they had endured to cross the river. Once they had recovered enough to take stock of their losses, Alex discovered that the river had taken her carpetbag of clothing but fortunately not her father’s medical bag whose value would have been irreplaceable if it had been taken. She could live with the loss of her clothing but she was drenched through and getting back to Four Corners now was impossible. There was nowhere to take shelter so they had little choice but to continue the journey to Coventry. Vin knew the terrain ahead and although the trail was rough, it would significantly cut down their travelling time.

"Why is its always my clothes," Alex grumbled once they were on the way again. "Wherever I go with you, I’m always getting soaked to the skin in a rain storm."

"Mostly," Vin drawled humoring her. "Because you’re the one crazy enough to go out in this weather and I’m the one dumb enough to follow you."

"You’re a real comedian." She said sarcastically and clung to him tighter because she was terribly cold and her cloak was somewhere on its way out of the state by now.

"I aim to please." He grinned, trying to keep both their spirits up in this dismal venture with a little levity. In some ways, this trip was reminiscent of that trip to Agnes Doherty and despite the ordeal they were going through on this occasion; he could not help feeling slightly amused by the whole thing. It almost seemed like some kind of biblical sign telling him that a turning point had come in their relationship, although Vin could not imagine what that might be. It was as perfect as it could get. He no longer had a price on his head and he was free to marry her. The ranch was starting to pay money and in a few weeks, he would have rebuilt the shack enough for Alex to move in with him.

Everything was as perfect as he could ever imagined in his wildest dreams. What more could he ask for?

"Vin, you ever think about children?" Alex asked suddenly.

He nearly fell off his horse.

Vin looked over her shoulder trying to hide the panic in his face as she waited for an answer to that question. "I don’t know," he stammered. "Ain’t really thought much about it and all. I mean is there some reason you are asking me now?"

"We’ve never really talked about it and since we’re thinking about getting married when we get back to town, I thought it might be a good idea." Alex could see the fear in his eyes and was rather surprised by it. He was not even this afraid when they fallen into the river. Why should he be afraid of a harmless question unless....

"Oh Vin, you didn’t think I was pregnant did you?"

"What me?" Vin turned back to the reins and let out a short laugh, extremely grateful that she could not see the relief in his face. "I ain’t dumb, I knew it was just a question."

"You did huh?" she said skeptically, trying not to laugh. "So what are your thoughts on the subject, Mr Tanner? Do you want to have children straight away, wait for a year or two or let things come naturally."

"Let things come naturally?" Vin asked, "ain’t that what’s been happening now?"

Actually now that he thought about it, considering how Mary and Inez were pregnant so soon after their marriages and Mary was pregnant when she and Chris had first started courting, he had to admit they had been lucky in that respect. Alex never seemed to worry about getting pregnant or even asking him to use anything while they were making love. Although he had not known many women and working girls did not expect it, he did know there were items out there for the purpose of not conceiving a child.

"Not exactly Vin." She answered. "I am a doctor and my father was well traveled. When you visit a lot of cultures you pick up things."

"Things?" He knew that a lot of her medicinal remedies were not often stock standard practices utilised by conventional physicians. He had seen her use some very odd herbs and plants he would never have figured as having healing properties to treat people. Of course Vin never complained when the results were so positive. "Like what?" He asked suspiciously.

"Vin, I realise that you aren’t around most mornings to know this but haven’t you noticed me drinking willow bark tea every morning when I stay with you at the shack?" She looked at him.

"Sure I do," he answered, still not comprehending what she was trying to tell him. "I can’t see why though, that stuff taste like rotgut gone bad."

"Well let’s say I don’t drink it for my health." She replied, having debated whether or not she ought to tell him about this but decided he had a right to know if they were going to be married. She probably should have brought this up before but men could be really obtuse about some things and this particular topic was incendiary to say the least. Some could even consider it sacrilegious to circumvent the course of life being born in this way.

"So what is it?" Vin demanded to know, not liking the fact that there was something about her he did not know.

"Let’s just say that without it, you would have been a father a lot sooner than you would have liked." Alex replied after exhaling loudly.

It took a minute for it to register in his brain and then he looked over his shoulder and stared at her in shock. "You mean that stuff keeps you from....."

"That’s right." Alex cut him off before he could say it.

"Oh." He paused and considered the knowledge she had presented to him, uncertain at how he felt about it. In truth, he had wondered about that considering how healthy both their sexual appetites had been, it was something of a minor miracle that she had not gotten in family way already. "How often do you have to take this stuff?"

"Every 21 days of the month." She answered. "Its almost completely effective, works even better than the things you men can use." Alex explained, wishing he would say something. The subject was awkward enough as it was.

"And if you miss it?" He asked finding the whole thing strange but fascinating.

"I have to keep taking it or not have sex for a week." Alex responded.

"Well that explains that anyway." Vin shrugged.

"What?"

"Your headaches." He grinned.

"Very funny." Alex chuckled. "Is it okay with us Vin?" She asked. "I didn’t want to keep this from you but it’s not something I really like to talk about."

"Its women business." Vin retorted, deciding that there were some things that he did not want to know but he understood why she had revealed this to him now. "Alex, I want to have a mess of children with you, I ain’t gonna lie about that but I ain’t ready for it right now. I don’t think you are neither."

"I’m not." She admitted honestly.

"Since we got something of a choice," he said feeling this great weight taken off his shoulders. "I think we can wait a bit."

"Good," she smiled, pleased that he had been so good about it.

The trail was rocky and uneven with the side of a hill flanking their position as they continued skirting the foot of it. The slope was formed mostly by sedentary layers of shale and grit. Once they were past this stretch of terrain, it would empty into the flat, grass plains that Alex was used to seeing when she traveled. Although she did not want to admit it, she would have rather taken her chances with the longer route to Coventry after what she had endured already. Of course, she did not voice that opinion to Vin whose entire purpose for this detour was so that they would get to Coventry before they were caught in the storm. It was not his fault that the weather was much more turbulent than he had originally anticipated.

They were halfway past the hill when Vin noticed Peso having trouble moving across the ground. What was normally hard, packed earth had became soft and malleable, the rain’s battering of it so relentlessly, had left the ground saturated with water. Each time Peso took a step, the animal’s hooves left an imprint in the soil that soon filled with water. Vin looked up the hill with concern, taking note that the sharp incline was devoid of any trees other than a few small shrubs here and there. He watched as the storm continued pounding water and wind into the side of the mound, loosening dirt and fused earth that had been compacted together for years, eroding those bonds with constant precipitation.

"Aw hell." Vin started to say as he realised the danger that they were in. 

"What’s wrong?" Alex demanded, hearing the tension in his voice and following his gaze as he started upward.

"We need to get out of here." He said warily, his eyes still fixed on the incline. He had now started to notice slight shifts of earth moving down the slope and pausing as they came to an obstruction. The shifts were minor for the moment but Vin knew that once a large chunk of earth decided to break away, it was going to bring down the entire side of the mountain upon on them. Unfortunately, he could not break Peso into a gallop because the sudden impact of hooves against the ground would only worsen the situation and hasten the coming mudslide.

"What is it?" She asked, feeling her stomach knot because he did not get this worried without  _very_  good reason and considering what had happened today, she was not about to discount any further acts of nature from breathing its angry wrath upon them.

"Rain’s loosening up all the soil on the hill." Vin answered after a moment, somewhat reluctantly because he had not wanted to worry her but decided that she was strong enough to take it and smart enough to work it out for herself.

"You mean a mudslide?" Alex exclaimed, her eyes widening in fear as her gaze returned to the hill.

"Yep." He nodded.

"What do we do?" She asked quietly, aware that any sound of loud could jar something loose. She had seen avalanches before to know how dangerous this could be not to mention when she had endured that landslide when returning from the Doherty spread. She could see Vin mindful of this in the way he nudged Peso forward, trying to guide the animal to make its steps lightly as possible, until they had cleared the danger zone.

"Nothing we can do." Vin responded, watching the terrain cautiously, aware of the shudders he could see and took note of every rock or clump of earth that made its descent, praying that those small detachments would not percipitate something much larger. "We gotta make it past this point and hope nothing happens in between."

"Oh great." She hissed loudly. "You know, I was joking when I said that this was turning out to be like the last trip I took out of town for a house call."

"Keep your voice down." He ordered since this was not time for her to be complaining, not when her voice had the power to do as much damage as Peso’s hooves against the ground or any impacting force that could shake something into movement.

"Oh God." Alex shuddered in fear and clung tighter to him in response, feeling her heart pound and wishing it would not because she was just frightened enough to think that it could have some effect on their outside environment. As if trying to stab at the wound that was festering, the rain which had until this point had been steady, suddenly intensified. The winds did the same, increasing its speed until the trees in the distance were struggling to stay upright from the powerful gale. The ground began to tremor suddenly and Vin realised that they were almost out of time.

"Hold on tight!" He shouted and kicked his heels hard into Peso’s side.

The horse was more than happy to depart, its senses detecting the danger far more efficiently than its master was capable and immediately launched into a robust gallop forward. Its efforts were somewhat hindered by the saturation of the ground beneath it and strained the animal somewhat to maintain the pace with the drag of mud pulling at its hooves. However the urgency of the situation soon propelled Peso to double its efforts the rumbled of earth became more than just passing and both Alex and Vin looked up in time to see a large shelf of earth suddenly break loose and begin its descent down the incline.

"Hell." Vin uttered and dug his heels into Peso’s flank again while Alex held on tight as she watch the wave of soil saturated by water, become a mud slide that was gaining momentum the further down the slope it progressed. The roar of its movement filled the air, like a great snake dragging its belly across the wet ground. The wave of mud was wide and as it continued downward, increased its volume until Vin was uncertain of how far they would have to ride to escape its devastating reach.

Alex closed her eyes and buried his face in his back, not daring too look at what was coming towards them because it would only heightened her panic. Peso was riding hard, the animal’s fear was such that it was oblivious to the mud, its powerful muscles compensating as it surged forward under Vin’s guidance. They had to clear the side of the mountain if they were going to escape the mud slide and in the distance, Vin could see the stretch of flat land they needed to reach to keep from being buried alive by the torrent of water and earth.

The cascade of earth continued to rumble down the slope, increasing in velocity and force as it roared down the hill. It tore up everything in its path, uprooting any plant life and dislodging boulder and rocks embedded in its surface, sweeping everything towards them in a sheer wall of nature’s deadly fury. Vin continued to push Peso to clear the field of danger coming towards them but knew with a sinking feeling that they would be extremely lucky if they made it. Alex was holding to him even tighter and he could not blame her for her terror because he was not to happy to see what was coming straight for them either.

The stretch of flat land that would have heralded their safety was just beyond their reach when Vin took stock of the progress made by the slide and saw the avalanche of mud finally reaching the foot of the hill. Finding no slope to continue, it exploded outwards and began expanding like a ripple in a pond, sending the deadly wall of soil and water rushing towards them like a wave. Alex let out a scream and while safety was close, it would not be close enough.

It hit them so hard that Peso tumbled over, throwing both riders off its back. The last thing Vin remembered as he was covered in a blanket of mud, was Peso braying loudly in panic and fear before everything went black and he knew nothing more.

* * *

_Peso._

That was what Alex heard when the disorientation had worn away after their tremendous collision with the mud slide as it swept them away like kindling in its awesome might. She could feel slick wetness all around her, it stuck to her face and was on her lips. She recoiled at the realisation that it was mud and was starting to panic when suddenly she heard Peso neighing. She was lying on her face, unable to breathe when Alex forced herself onto her knees and discovered that she was not buried as deeply as she thought. It took a little bit of effort to break the surface, mostly because the mud was weighing down her clothes.

Alex forced herself out of the mud and looked around. She saw Peso struggling to get onto its feet and started moving unconsciously towards the animal to stop it from braying because the sound cut straight through her shaken nerves. There was no time to think yet and as she grabbed him by the reins and gently helped him onto his feet, spraying her with mud as he stood up just as shakily. She wiped the smattering of it from her face and surveyed the river of mud drying around her, with leaves of shrubs protruding out in some places and a tuft of something that Alex recognised immediately.

"Oh my god, VIN!" She scrambled forward, unaware that she was running until she dropped to her feet next to him. All she could see of her fiancée was part of that damned buckskin coat he was never without. Digging her hands into the soft mud, she cleared away more soil off his coat until there was enough material for both her hands to grab. Plunging her fingers against the hide, Alex fisted her hands around it and pulled as hard as she could. She dislodged some of the earth around him but not enough. She could feel his heat under her hands and knew he was still alive. Alex refused to allow herself to think otherwise.

"Come on Alex!" She shouted to herself as she ground her teeth and pulled back once again. It was not just his weight but the pressure of all that mud covered on top of him. Tears started to run down her cheeks, creating streaks in the mud on her face as she heaved again, putting every ounce of strength she could in a single Herculean effort. Without warning, the mud around him loosened suddenly and she fell backwards, pulling him out of his grave by the force of the recoil. He collapsed on top of her, unmoving and Alex’s instincts as a doctor kicked in immediately. Pulling herself free of him, Alex moved quickly to examine him. There was mud all over his face and she tried to clean as much of it as she could from his breathing passages. Forcing his mouth open, she doubled over him and started breathing air into his lung, forcing them into working.

"Breathe goddamn it!" She swore as she came up for air in order to replenish his.

She continued this for a few a seconds, daring not to believe that he was beyond help. Alex did not even want to envision the possibility that it was too late. He looked pale and she knew that he had been buried for at least two minutes. The human body could tolerate at least two and a half minutes without oxygen before the heart gave out. The brain could last a little longer but not much. She knew she had gotten to him in time but none of these statistic was set in stone because human individuality made everyone different.

Suddenly, he convulsed violently and gasped as his natural instincts to live kicked in and he started breathing on his own, taking each mouthful of air into his lungs like he was a man starved. He took several breaths until the intake became too much for his lungs to cope with and he doubled over, coughing loudly as Alex helped him sit up right. He could feel pieces of grit in his mouth and the taste of mud, scraping against the back of his throat.

"Can you breathe okay?" She asked, looking at him with concern. Judging by the way he was wiping mud off himself, she guessed he was unharmed except for some cuts and bruises sustained when they were hit by the mud slide.

"Yeah." He nodded, his voice sounding just a little hoarse. Vin turned his attention to her and saw that the wound she had sustained during their ordeal on the river had started bleeding again. "You don’t look so good though." He said with concern and reached for her cheek and caressed it gently.

"I’m fine," Alex sighed, instinctively touching her forehead and wincing a little at the pain when her fingers made contact with the tender skin. "I’m really starting to think we should have stayed at home."

Vin managed a sardonic laugh. "Well at least the weather has let up." He remarked, raising his gaze to the sky. Although there was no blue to be seen except thick dark clouds, the rain had paused for the moment. Vin could tell roughly that it was evening by the vague glimmer of the sun behind the clouds. It would soon be dark and Coventry was not far away now. Looking around, he saw Peso waiting patiently for them and felt relieved to see that the animal had come through the mudslide unhurt. While it was dangerous all around for any creature to be caught in such a natural disaster, it was especially so for horses because their slender bones could break so easily. A broken leg was fatal for a horse and Vin would not have relished performing the same duty he had once been called upon to do for Alex’s last horse, Calliope.

"That’s something." She grumbled. "I really think God hates us."

Vin managed a small smile and allowed himself a moment to recover before attempting to stand up. "He don’t hate us," he drawled, examining himself and actually wished for a hot bath. Unfortunately, he did not think he was going to get one at a nunnery. Sometimes, Vin did not appreciate the Almighty’s sense of humor. "He just likes to have a lot of fun with us."

"Vin," Alex said cautiously. "You should rest for a few more minutes." She was so grateful that he had come out of this latest ordeal alive, she did not want to risk himself any more than necessary. The weariness on his face was obvious but Alex also knew that he would disregard his own state of health to get her to Coventry before the sun went down.

"I’m okay," he stood up and extended his hand towards her. "I’m been through worse. Besides, I’d be a lot happier resting some place that didn’t look like no pig sty."

"Can’t say I disagree with you." She replied taking his hand as he pulled her to her feet. Her body ached terribly and she would not be surprised if she was a little bruised. Alex looked forward to a warm bed where she could snuggle up to him. That was the only thing that would make this nightmare of a day remotely salvageable. "If you’re good, you can scrub my back." She teased.

"To hell with it," Vin decided. "We’re riding into Coventry once you’re done at this nunnery and getting a room." After everything they had been through today, he was sure as hell not going to let a bunch of nuns tell him that he could not be with the woman he loved because they were not married. That was going to happen soon enough and no one knew them at Coventry to get the local gossips worked up.

"Why Mr Tanner," she looked at him with a raised brow. "That’s mighty presumptuous of you. What if I want to stay at the nunnery."

Vin turned to her with a raised brow. "Woman," he said firmly. "I’m taking you to a hotel room even if I have to drag you there kicking and screaming."

"Well," Alex said with a smile as they made their way to Peso. "When you put it so romantically, how can a girl refuse an offer like that?" She giggled as he pulled her towards him, feeling immensely happy to be alive considering what they had just been through.

"It’s all in the asking," Vin’s voice became husky when his mouth took hers and they shared the moment as they exchanged a lingering kiss. When they parted, they resumed the journey to Peso who seemed none the worse for the experience and looked just as bedraggled and disheveled as they did. Vin climbed into the saddle first, ensuring that Peso was well enough to continue their journey to Coventry. His eyes surveyed the destruction around them and could see branches of upended plants and shrubs protruding from the river of mud. The mudslide had hit even ground and spread outwards until its momentum was exhausted and it finally came to a stop. Vin hoped that no one else had been caught in its path.

Pulling Alex into the saddle behind him, Vin prepared to ride out once he felt the comforting feel of her arms around his waist and her body pressing into his back. A shudder of pleasure moved through him as he felt her warmth against him and wondered how she managed to do that every single time. Even though she was just as filthy as he was, she never looked more beautiful to him because no matter what the calamity befell them, Alex would always be at his side to share the burden.

It was a good feeling to know that with such certainty.

"Come on Doc," he said digging his heels into Peso’s sides. "Let get going before anything else happens to us."

* * *

It was well past dark when they finally arrived at the nunnery outside of Coventry. Alex had little time to rest and although the ladies inside the holy establishment were rather shocked at the ordeal she had endured to reach them, they could offer little more than words of thanks before reminding her that a patient awaited her. A priest had been sent for because the old lady had not roused from her comatose state and Vin was forced to wait in the chapel on premises while Alex tended to their ailing sister.

In the meantime, understanding that he had been through something of a trial in the last few hours, the sisters were good enough to provide him with a hot meal and a place to clean up. Of course, a basin and wash cloth were no substitutes for a hot bath but on the whole, he decided not to complain because he was accustomed to living it rough. What was provided allowed him to get cleaned up considerably which was gratifying because there was not a corner of him that was not covered in mud. The sisters provided similar comforts to Peso, taking the horse to their stable where fresh feed and dry hay was available for its disposal.

Vin remained in the chapel, not wishing to wander around the hallowed halls of a convent. He never felt comfortable in such places for it reminded him too much of the state run foster homes he had been sent to after his mother had died. Instead, he sat on the pew, waiting out the hours that seemed to drag on by as Alex tended to her patient, feeling a little sorry that she had to work when she had gone through as much as he had today and could not rest. However, he knew Alex well enough to realise that she could never sit still if there was someone in need.

Despite how uncomfortable he felt in the confines of the convent, he had to admit he felt no such ambivalence in the chapel. It was rather serene really and looked no different from the church that Josiah had restored so devotedly during his time in Four Corners. Unlike Josiah’s church which only had a pulpit at the head of the congregation, this chapel was larger, with stained glass windows which must have looked really pretty when the sun shone through them. The images were of knights and horses, of friars and bishops and of ages long before his time and captioned in a language he could not read, much less understand.

Watching the candles flicker on the candle stand, Vin could not help but look back upon the day and find the whole thing amusing after the fact. When Alexandra Styles had discovered that he meant something to her, it had been through a similar sort of journey. They had been through an ordeal as if it took that to give them the nudge needed to admit how they truly felt about each other. From the moment his lips had met hers in that little cabin on the Doherty spread, they were lost to each other even if neither knew it at the time. There was so many thing occupying their thoughts then, her feelings for Ezra, Vin’s determination not betray the same, unaware that events were taking place in Four Corners that made such considerations pointless.

Now here they were and so much had happened since that first moment when he first laid eyes upon her and knew without doubt that she was made for him. Sometimes, Vin could scarcely believe it and then there were others times when it was so real that it made his heart pound from the sheer joy of her being in his life. Alex had been through much for him, endure things he was certain she would never tell him because he would not truly understand. There were secret wounds she had suffered him, things he could see in her eyes but dared not ask because it would hurt her too much to tell him. When they had returned form Tascosa, he had seen that pain become apart of her and knew that it had been endured because she loved him.

"Vin." Alex’s voice shattered the dignified tranquility of the chapel and invaded his thoughts, bringing him back to the present.

With her was a priest in dark, somber robes and a portly nun that Vin remembered from their initial arrival to the convent, even though they had not been formally introduced. Vin rose to his feet and walked up the red carpeted aisle to greet his fiancée, taking note that she looked extremely weary and needed to sleep. The expression on her face did not seem terribly hopeful and Vin had a feeling she had not been able to do very much for the nun she had made this journey to help.

"How did it go?" Vin asked. "Is she alright?"

"I’m afraid not," Alex shook her head sadly, mimicking the mournful expression on the faces of her companions, although not to their extent. "She fell because she had a stroke. She’s very old so it was to be expected."

"She ain’t gonna make it?" Vin said sympathetically.

"Not the way she used to be," Alex looked at the duo with her. "Unfortunately the stroke was massive. She could live for years or she could die tonight. It’s very uncertain but Mother Superior here tells me she is very strong, so I imagine that she’ll be with us for a little longer."

"That’s too bad." Vin met their eyes. "I’m real sorry to hear that."

"Its god’s will." Mother Superior shrugged. "We cannot always understand his ways and so we must accept it and go on."

"I’ll take your word for it." He remarked and thought she looked a little like Nettie for she had the same kindness in her face. Her eyes were younger than she was he suspected.

"Well Mother Superior," the priest made himself heard. "I am sure that Doctor Styles and Mr Tanner are exhausted after their journey to aid us. Have you prepared rooms for both of them?"

"Yes," the woman looked at them with a warm smile. "Please come with me Doctor Styles, I can show you a place to get cleaned up and I’m sure we have something you can wear while we have your clothes cleaned."

"Oh that’s very kind of you," Alex glanced at Vin, aware that he wanted to go to Coventry. "But we’ll keep going."

"But its storming outside," Father O’Halloran replied with his thick Irish accent. He was a stocky man with white hair who hid his youthful eyes behind steel rimmed glasses. "You cannot possibly venture out like this and we would not be at all Christian to let you both go."

"Alex, you’re plenty tired." Vin admitted, seeing the exhaustion in her eyes and would prefer not to put her through the ordeal of venturing out into the cold night for another trip. He did not think either Alex  _or_  Peso was up to the journey. "We can stay here the night." He answered with a smile. He hated the thought of sleeping apart especially after today but was not about to make her ride to Coventry because he could not stand to not have her in his bed.

"Vin are you sure?" She asked, perfectly willing to make the trip if he wanted her to do so.

Vin kissed her on the forehead and saw the smile on Father O’Halloran’s face when suddenly an idea came to him. It took a millisecond for him to decide that it was an extremely good idea and worth indulging. Looking up at the priest, Vin wrapped his arms around Alex, not caring how scandalous it looked and asked. "Father O’Halloran, can you marry us?"

Alex broke his grasp and stared at him. "Now?"

"You said you didn’t want no fancy wedding." He reminded.

"Yes but now....?" she sputtered unable to believe that this was his solution to their sleeping arrangements tonight. Although, come to think of it, it was not a bad idea actually, she decided after a moment’s reflection.

"Certainly," the man said somewhat amused by the whole interplay as was Mother Superior who was looking on with a widening smile. She did so love weddings, even ones as abrupt as this.

"Come on Doc," Vin looked at her. "I even brought the ring."

"You brought the ring?" Her eyes widened it around. "When did you buy a ring?"

"When we got back from Tascosa," he said proudly, somewhat pleased he had managed to keep that secret. Vin had been carrying the gold band in his coat for sometime now, ever since Ezra had helped make the selection. The gambler had been so astute at helping him with an engagement ring for Alex that Vin had chosen to recruit his aid when selecting its successor. He reached into the folds of the jacket and produced a velvet box that was rather encrusted in mud after the day’s events. Flipping it open, he revealed to her with pride, a single gold band set with three tiny stones of blue turquoise. It had cost him quite a bit but Vin did not care, he was happy to delve into his savings to see this on her finger.

"Oh Vin," Alex exclaimed. "Its beautiful." She whispered.

"So," he asked once again. "Marry me?" His blue eyes twinkled as he looked at her.

"Yes," she smiled and embraced him, trying to keep the emotion out of her voice. "You crazy son of bitch. Yes!"

"Well," Father O’Halloran said raising a brow as he watched the couple coming to their decision. "I’ve heard better answers but that will do." He grinned. "Let’s get his wedding started."

* * *

Alex and Vin lay in each other arms, less than an hour later after their small but lovely wedding, sharing the  _same_  bed in one of the guest rooms inside the convent. They were too tired to do much else but stare out the window at the storm and wondered if all the pivotal moments in their life together would be marked by such calamity. Alex had cleaned up and was lying next to him, smelling fresh and clean, his face nuzzling in her hair as he took a breath of that heady scent that made him fall in love with her all over again, each time he felt it inside his lungs.

"You know," Alex said staring at the ring on her finger as they lay spooning, enjoying the warmth and the magic the night had to offer. "They’re gonna kill us when we get back."

"Yeah, I reckon." He agreed, knowing what she was talking about. Undoubtedly, their friends were not going to be happy at how they had chosen to make their nuptials. "I’ll tell them it was your idea."

"Thanks a lot Mr Tanner." Alex said staring at him in mock outrage.

"My pleasure, Mrs. Tanner." He replied and decided he liked the sound of that very much.

Very much indeed.


	4. The Gift

 

When Ezra heard pounding on the door of his lodgings, he knew it could only be one person. In the split instant following the first impact of a fist against the wood of his door, he immediately discounted either Chris or Mary Larabee as his visitors. Ezra was quick to realise that there could only be one other person who would have reason be so irritated with him on the other side of the wall. Grabbing the pillow at the head of the bed and covering up evidence of his mischief, Ezra was all calm when he went to answer the door. Although he knew he was in no physical danger but it still did not change that the fact that his meeting with the new arrival was going to be anything but pleasant.

Turning the door knob, he had barely chance to pull it open when Julia Pemberton charged into the room, looking not all impressed and almost knocking him over from the force of her entry. A decidedly dark and ominous storm cloud had followed her into the room and Ezra could almost feel the temperature drop a degree or two as he closed the door behind him and turned to face her, preparing for a blast of ice from her white hot fury.

"Good afternoon my dear," he said politely, unable to deny that he was surprised to see her here even though cordialities were not going to be forthcoming if her expression was anything to go by. She did not often visit him in his lodgings because it was exceptionally inappropriate to do so therefore, Ezra surmised he must have been in a great deal of trouble to warrant this personal appearance.

"Don’t good afternoon me, Ezra Standish." She glared at him with those perfect emerald eyes; her cheeks flushed red with anger and invisible flames exuding from her nostrils. "Is it true?" She demanded her hands on her hips as she waited impatiently for an answer.

Feigning ignorance for as long as he could, Ezra looked at her with almost wide eyed innocence and answered. "Is what true my darling?"

"That you are Billy Travis are going to be having a card duel over me?" She roared, defying him to deny the accusation even though her fury could only mean that she already knew the answer. Her eyes left him for a moment as they swept around the room, taking stock of everything within the meagre lodgings before pausing at the bed momentarily at the odd positioning of the pillow. After an instant of observation, she returned her gaze back to him in time for his response.

"Well when you put it that way, it sounds positively sordid." He answered as if there was absolutely nothing wrong with the course which he was about to embark upon later this afternoon with young Master Travis. He had to be very careful at how he worded things because Julia did not come here to hear excuses. It was highly inappropriate for her to visiting him in his private room and no doubt this occasion would be set upon eagerly by local gossips mongers who were quick to point fingers at any impropriety.

"Of course it sounds sordid!" She cried out in exasperation. "It is sordid!" Julia started to pace the floor, working herself into an indignant fury. "You’re playing poker with an eight year old boy over a woman!"

"You are hardly any woman," Ezra quickly responded, using his most charming voice to assuage her anger. He was certain that this could be resolved with a dimpled smile and a few slick tongued words. "You are Venus to my Olympus, Juliet to my Romeo. If the Greeks had seen you before they set sailed for Troy, I am certain that they would not have even given second though to Helen. They would have cast down their arms and rode sonnets to your grace and beauty." He said crossing the distance between them and slid his arm around her slender waist. Since the town was already going to be talking about her being in his room, Ezra did not see any reason not to hold back.

Julia did not push him away but rolled her eyes in sarcasm, perfectly aware of what he was up to and not buying his flattering words for one instant. "Ezra," she scowled. "Don’t try to squirm out of it. You’re in trouble," she placed her hand on his cheek. "Accept it."

"Julia, it’s a matter of honour!" He insisted deciding to drop all facade since it was obvious that such efforts were not going to have much effect and sometimes it was too much like hard work. He was after all, a gentleman.

"You’re talking about honour? You’re a thirty year old man playing cards with an eight year old over a woman and not just any woman, me! I think its safe to say that the boat has sailed on honour, not to mention sense or plain sense!" She pulled away at him. "How can you even think about doing this? Mary will kill you the minute she finds out you were playing poker with Billy! Didn’t you learn you lesson the last time? This time, she’ll hang you by the toes!"

"Fortunately," Ezra quickly returned perfectly aware of the danger to his person should Mary learn of his exploits this afternoon with her young son. "Mrs Larabee and Mr Larabee are on their way to Sweet Water even as we speak so they should be back in Four Corners well after my challenge with young Master Travis has been satisfied. With any luck, she will not even know about it."

"You think you can keep this a secret?" Julia looked at him incredulously wondering if he had lost all sense or at the very least been dropped on his head as a baby. The latter would at least have been plausible. "Half the town knows about this little game you got with Billy! The other half thinks that the man I love is a complete and utter lunatic and as for me, this is bordering on pathetic!"

"It just so happens that Master Travis and I are not playing poker," Ezra said defending himself, not at all happy that his hopes of containing this situation was more or less a moot point and worse yet, Mary would soon learn about this. In any case, he was doomed anyway so there was really little point in fighting it. "We are engaging in a game of ‘go fish’."

"And we’re passed pathetic." Julia stared at him with disgust and started to feel a massive migraine coming on. Why was it that whenever he got into one of these crazy schemes she always wound up with a sore head? "You’re playing ‘go fish’ with Billy? You’re playing for me with a game of ‘go fish’!" She asked, needing to hear it so that she could miss the preliminaries of embarrassment and go into the fully public humiliation he was going to cause her because of his juvenile predilections.

"Yes." He said with a smile proudly. "After all, I would never presume to lead the young man astray but this is a matter of honour." At least that would make a good statement to the jury when it came time for the sentencing.

"It’s about a stupid birthday present!" Julia growled, losing all ability to contain her anger up to this point and unable to believe she was embroiled in such absurdity. "What is it with you about this rivalry with a young boy!"

"I resent the implication that you think that I am intimidated by Master Travis." Ezra said somewhat offended that she could even suggest such a thing, after all, he was a grown man. He was merely indulging in this game to show the youth how gentlemen settled their differences. If one really considered it carefully, what he was doing could be construed as an attempt to educate the boy on the social intricacies of civilised behaviour.

"Ezra!" Julia stared at him in exasperation before striding over to his bed and lifting the pillow that had hidden his practice session of cards. "You’re practising ‘go fish’!" She pointed to the cards in disbelief. "Since when do you practice any game before playing?"

"Ever since it became a duelling matter." He cleared his throat, wishing she had not found that since he preferred to appear as if he was partially confident about the game he would be playing. "The young man must learnt that you are my fiancee’ and there are matter in which he as a child must step aside. I bought you a perfectly valuable piece of jewellery that is the bonafide product. He must be made to understand that one cannot just buy a fraudulent trinket and expect to pass it on as a genuine piece."

"What does it matter?" Julia groaned, flopping onto the bed in resignation. "I would love anything either of you gave me. I cannot believe that you are propagating this nonsense!" She took the pillow and covered her face with it, still beyond comprehension that this was happening. It was bad enough that Ezra was proving himself to have the mentality of a two year old by this actions but the entire town of Four Corners knew they playing this ludicrous game of cards. Not only was Julia suffering the embarrassment of everyone thinking that this was the most ridiculous thing Ezra had done since he walked down the street wearing nothing but a table cloth (actually she would not have mind seeing that herself). However, being the object of his affections, she was reduced to a laughing stock because she had been the inspiration for all this foolishness.

Julia had a position of respect in the community, one which she had cultivated over a period of time since coming to Four Corners. She was admired as a businesswoman with a good head for commercial ventures. Julia knew that it was this respect that allowed her to continue an affair with a conman and gambler with raising two many eye brows from the more intolerant Christian residents of Four Corners not to mention, the liberties she sometime took with him.

"This is so embarrassing." She groaned and wished the ground would open up and swallow  _him_.

Ezra lay next to her on the bed and pulled the pillow off her face. "My darling, I assure you, I will play the finest game that I have ever played."

"Oh?" She peered out from under the pillow. "Played many games with eight year olds, have you?" She said sarcastically, sarcasm oozing from each word.

"Julia…." Ezra tried to make her understand that it was time Billy appreciated that he had first call on her affections. Ever since Billy had met Julia, the young boy had been something of a thorn in Ezra’s side. He was always trying to steal her time and her attention, not to mention the child had the most annoying ability to be present just when Ezra had plans for his lover that did not lend well to having a third party who was not even of legal age present. "I am doing this for you. I am determined that you have a gift worthy of your station."

"Ezra," Julia removed the pillow from her face and rolled onto her side so she could face him. "I love you. I truly do. You are the most charming man that I have ever met and when you make love to me, I can hear music in my head but sometimes you can be such an idiot! You could give me a worthless piece of glass and I’d still think it was the most precious thing in the world!"

"I may hold you to that." He said with a perfectly straight face which only infuriated her more. "Julia forgive me for saying this but this is not really your concern. This is a matter between gentlemen."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Ezra winced thinking that perhaps it was not the wisest choice of words he could have used. He could see her eyes narrowing in fury no sooner than the words had escaped him and wondered if there was any way he could recant them without bloodshed.

"A matter between gentlemen?" She hissed, her voice pratically smouldering out of her mouth as she spoke. "You’ve turning me into the laughing stock of the entire town because of your juvenile pride and you tell me that its not my concern!" She jumped up off the bed and stared at him imperiously. "I’m telling you to sort this matter out right now or I am never speaking to you again!"

"Julia!" Ezra cried out, unable to believe she was getting so upset about a card came. "It’s just a game!"

"Oh give me a break!" Julia whirled on him, pausing in mid step following that statement. "This is nothing to do with a game! This is because you are jealous of an eight year old!"

"I am not jealous of that…that…child!" Ezra retorted, offended that she could even believe such a thing. Well okay, perhaps he was a little jealous since he always seemed to be competing with the child for her time but this instance had nothing to do with it! Not much anyway, except that the boy had bought Julia the exact same gift and the entire game was for them to decide which one of them would win the right to present her with it.

"You are  _so_  jealous of Billy!" Julia declared. She was not blind to how attached the young boy had been to her since his permanent return to Four Corners. He was always coming for a visit and though she had not confessed it to anyone, one of the highlights of her routine was having that hour where they enjoyed ice cream together in the restaurant in the Emporium. Ever since she had first discovered Billy walking around the store forlorn after he had been given the shock news that his mother and Chris Larabee were to be married, it had become something of a ritual with them. She knew that he had something of a crush on her by how he always seemed to be trying to get in between her and Ezra whenever the seven got together on one of their gatherings but he was after all a child and would outgrow it in time. She could not say she minded it although she had been operating under the assumption that Ezra was adult enough to handle the situation and not behaved like jealous dog.

Of course, this was the man who played poker until he had only a table cloth to his name, so  _adult_  really did not figure into the equation.

"I am not jealous!" Ezra insisted, determined to prove to her that he was not. "I am attempting to teach the young man the civilised way of conducting one’s self. Trust me, when he is a young man, he will appreciate my efforts."

"You know I can understand Billy being so stubborn because he’s eight years old but you’re an adult, such at it is. You’re suppose to know better." She snapped, deciding that she was not going to convince him to abandon this foolishness and was too mad to remain lest she either kill him on the spot or ended up having mad passionate sex and anger was very hard to maintain in the throes of passion. As it was, Julia was starting to think that they both deserved each other. Getting off the bed, she made her way for the door not trusting herself to remain any longer because she was close to slugging him since it was the more preferrable of her two options.

"Julia," Ezra called out as he saw her starting to leave. "I assure you, I am not playing this game out of some juvenile attempt to gain superiority over a child. The young man challenged me and it would be rude of me not accept." He tried one more time to make her understand.

"I don’t want to hear it!" She growled and pulled open the door. "In fact, I’m not even going to be around for this stupidity. If you wish to behave like a child, then I want no part of it!"

With that, she stormed out the door, more or less the same way she came into the room, slamming it shut with a loud bang as it met the frame. Ezra jumped slightly after she had gone and let out a sigh before thinking to himself.

She’d understand after he’d won.

* * *

At the same time that Ezra and Julia were having their rather heated discussion about the ethics of playing go fish, Billy Travis was practicing hard in his room. Despite the efforts of Lilith King to convince him to think otherwise about taking on a professional gambler in his field of expertise, the young boy was adamant about pursuing the matter like his older opponent. Like Julia, the young daughter of the local schoolteacher was not having as much luck in swaying her best friend as the Emporium owner was having with her lover. It was bad enough that her spell to make Billy shift his affections did not seem to be working but Billy was just as infatuated with Julia Pemberton as he was this morning when he had issued his challenge to Ezra. Except now, Josiah was looking at her funny, probably because he knew she was up to something she should not be. Fortunately, the preacher had enough troubles to contend with at the moment so he did not take her to task about what she had been doing conjuring after she promised him she would not perform any more spells.

"Billy, this is really a bad idea." Lilith said still trying to coax him as they sat on his bed and played with a set of old cards that Ezra had given him. Billy had carefully hidden from his ma because she would really be mad if she found it after the entire debacle of his gambling at school. His ma was still pretty angry about his playing craps at lunch time although, Billy was secretly unrepentant because he won one of the raspberry tarts that Jimmy Forster always brought to school and would not share with anyone else.

"No its not," Billy retorted, concentrating on his cards and then reminding himself that he could not focus too hard because Ezra could tell if he was concentrating and know what he had in his hand or what he did not. Billy tried to remember every snippet of advice the gambler had given him in the hopes that he would be able to utlise it to its fullest potential later today when he faced the man at the saloon. "You’re just a girl Lily," he replied as if that would explain everything. "You don’t understand how it is with gentlemen."

"What has that got to do with anything!" She asked annoyed. "And you ain’t no gentlemen! You’re just a kid!" She pointed out.

"I am a gentlemen!" Billy said defiantly. "And I’m gonna prove it too. Not to you but to Julia too!"

"You ain’t got no chance at beating Ezra at cards, Billy. You’re just gonna end up looking stupid!" She groaned when she discarded and realised that she had given him what he needed to win the game. Now he was going to be even more convinced he was ready to take on Ezra.

As anticipated, Billy picked it up and looked at her with a triumphant grin before he put down his cards to show her his winning hand. "Who’s looking stupid now? You see, I can win!"

"Well that’s because I can’t play ‘go fish’ so good." Lilith countered not about to cry defeat just yet and knew that she was probably being a little stubborn but hey, she was almost nine. She was allowed to be, so Miss Julia often said.

In truth, Lilith did not mind the Emporium owner at all with her bright red hair that sometimes looked like fire. Julia was always nice to her and Billy, often treating them to ice cream whenever they went to see her. Other times, Julia would just allow them to follow her around while she walked around the huge store and made sure everything was running smoothly. Instinctively, Lilith reached for the hairpin in her blond locks, remembering how Julia had given it to her after she had admired it in the store. If it were not for the fact that Lilith had to compete with Julia for Billy’s affections, she would have liked Miss Pemberton a great deal.

"You can bet Ezra plays better than me." Lilith insisted. "I mean he plays cards all the time and he has to be very good to be so fancy looking. You’ve only won lunches."

  
Billy gathered the cards and prepared to deal once more. "That’s because I’ve only never played for money."

"Nobody plays ‘go fish’ for money." She retorted.

"Go fish, poker, its all the same." He shrugged, unprepared to let her talk him out of the challenge he had issued Ezra. Billy refused to give in on principle because he had worked very hard on his chores to earn the money to buy Julia her present. He had raked leaves, helped ma in the kitchen, helped Chris with his horse and even did some chores around the ranch. It had been time he would have preferred utilising to play with his friends but Billy’s determination to buy Julia her gift overrode all those childish consequences.  
When he had bought his gift from Mr Wing, Billy had been so proud of himself because the pendant had looked really fancy and just the kind of thing Julia would like to wear. He often noticed her wearing pretty things and was certain that this would fit with her collection. Lilith had liked it plenty enough and Lilith was a girl too, although not at all like Julia.

"Lily, I can beat him." Billy said confidently even though he knew it was more for her benefit than his. He did not like to think that he might actually lose and would have to discard the gift he had worked so hard to buy her just because Ezra had spent more money buying the exact same thing. "I know Julia likes me better anyway."

Lilith gave him a look and shook her head, unable to believe how dense the male gender could be at times. Boys could be so immature. She did not think Miss Pemberton liked Billy any more or less than she did Ezra. It was just a different kind of like that only women of the world (like herself could understand) and boys did not have the slightest clue.

"Whatever you say." She sighed deciding that she was tired of trying to convince him when it was obvious that nothing was going to remove the allure of Julia Pemberton from his mind. "I’ve got to get going. I’ll come back later maybe."

"Okay," Billy replied, dealing the cards once again, barely noticing she had gone.

Lilith looked over her shoulder at him just before she left and could only shake her head once again.

_Men._

* * *

Ezra emerged from his room to return to the saloon where no doubt the entire place would be filled with talk about his game with Billy. As it was, in an hour or so, they would be having a bird’s eye view of the whole challenge, when the young man arrived in the establishment to make their rendezvous. Ezra was aware that his standing as a professional gambler might take a little bit of bruising after this little duel with Billy Travis. However, he was prepared to suffer the loss of prestige just a little when the rewards were letting the boy know who stood where with Julia Pemberton.

He entered the saloon and found it bustling with activity. It was afternoon and so it was to be expected. Rain was behind the counter serving drinks and he could smell the rich, textured flavour of Inez’s cooking wafting from the kitchen and immediately felt his stomach leap in response to whatever culinary delights she was preparing for the waiting crowd. It seemed like everyone in Four Corners knew where to come for the best Mexican food in town. At his regular table where he normally paid court to those who would try to pit their skills at cards with him, were Buck Wilmington and Josiah Sanchez. Both men appeared to be in a state of flux themselves.

Buck’s eyes seemed to be roaming around the place, checking every window and entrance in quick glimpses before making the entire sweep over and over again. Ezra saw Buck’s gaze moving to the entrance where he had come in and held it there for a few minutes, escalating the gamblers curiosity at the new father’s odd behaviour. If Ezra did not know better, he would be inclined to believe that there was trouble expected and Buck was watching out closely for it. Shaking his head, he continued further into the establishment, taking note of the same bizarre manner for Josiah.

However, while Buck looked as if he was ready to jump out of his seat with guns blazing at some unknown enemy at a second’s notice, Josiah was the other extreme. Wherever the preacher was, he was nowhere in the same vicinity as Buck or the rest of the room. His mind did not pay any attention to the noise taking place around him and Josiah was a preoccupied as Ezra had ever seen him. He merely sat at the table, drumming his fingers against the hard surface of the felt covered table, engaged in secret thoughts that had his usually cool serene face as trouble as the raging storm that was rumbling its discontent in the near distant sky.

"My goodness, you gentlemen appear to be in a worse state than I." Ezra announced his arrival by that opening statement and captured both their attention.

"Ezra," Buck said standing up quickly and greeting the gambler with a hushed voice as if anyone could hear him from the drone of voices around him. "You haven’t seen Millie about have you?"

"Millie?" Ezra tried to attach the name to a face and vaguely recalled a rather charming if somewhat unrefined young woman the former ladies’ man had a dalliance with almost two years ago. If he recalled correctly she had left town after they had handled the situation that almost saw Four Corners razed to the ground. "You mean the young lady you had an affair with during the period of time when we had ourselves a new Marshall in town?"

"That’s her." Buck nodded nervously. He glanced at the kitchen as he prepared to continue, almost terrified that his wife might hear this conversation and draw all the wrong conclusions if she were to hear him. "She’s back in town Ezra and she wants me."

"I thought your philandering days were over." Ezra looked at him critically, unimpressed if Buck was attempting to rekindle some kind of affair with this young woman, particularly since he was now married. While Ezra pretended to be indifferent most of the times to Inez’s private life, he had a great affection for the woman and if Buck were to even think of hurting her, the gambler would take great exception to it. Inez was like family and despite the fact that he hid it most times, he felt rather protective towards her.

"They are!" Buck hissed, mortified that Ezra could even think of such a thing. He loved Inez dearly and if being married had proved one thing to Buck Wilmington, it was that he was capable of being faithful to her and he had no intention of changing that any time soon. He loved his wife and his daughter, too much in fact to risk losing them for anything. Especially not for a girl he had hardly know before she had left town.

  
"Good," Ezra said with a charming smile. "Because should I find that you are in anyway contemplating bringing harm to Mrs Wilmington, I can almost guarantee you that Mr Tanner and I will be standing in line to participate in your firing squad."

"Thanks," Buck grumbled, nice to know that his friends had so much confidence in his ability to abstain, as if he had not proven himself enough already in the last few months. "But I’ll have you know that I ain’t chasing after Millie, she’s chasing after me."

"Why?" He exclaimed genuinely mystified.

"Why?" Buck snorted somewhat offended that Ezra could ask such a question. "I am irresistible to woman you know."

"Yes you are," Ezra said with a perfectly straight face. "And we admire how you wield that awesome responsibility but why can you not just tell the young lady that you are now committed elsewhere, so to speak."

"Because I don’t want to hurt her!" Buck gushed as if Ezra was dense or something. "She’s come all the way back here, looking for me and I don’t want to break little ol’ heart."

"So you would rather run around and avoid her at all costs instead of making the adult choice and telling her that you are now a person of married state." He asked staring at Buck as if the man was a child even though he was supposed to be a responsible adult these days, not to mention a man with a growing respectability.

"Yes and don’t you go pointing fingers about being adult, you’re playing an eight year old for your woman." Buck said with a smug smile.

Ezra stiffened with annoyance, wondering if the entire town knew about this. He looked around briefly and took note of the number of people inside the Tavern and wondered if they were all here for lunch or to witness his game of cards with Billy Travis. "I will have you know Mr Wilmington," Ezra said brusquely. "I am merely engaging young Master Travis in this endeavour in order to prove that I not he, hold Julia’s affections."

"And you need to play go fish with him to prove that?" Buck gave him a look that said volumes.

Ezra frowned unable to come up with a suitable retort when suddenly he declared out loud. "Mr Wilmington, I do believe I see Miss Millie in here!"

"Where?" Buck quickly dropped behind Ezra for cover and then added in a quiet voice. "To hell with this, I’m getting out of here." With that he kept his head down low as he weaved furtively through the bodies in the saloon and made a fortuitous exit through the kitchen.

Ezra watched the big man make his escape with a small smile of satisfaction and then sat down at the table. Josiah had snapped out of his reverie long enough to see Buck’s departure. His eyes scoured the room before he turned back to Ezra. "I don’t see Millie."

"That’s probably because she is not here." Ezra smiled wickedly as he removed the timepiece from his coat and began polishing it with his handkerchief.

Josiah chuckled slightly and then lapsed back into thought, drawing Ezra’s notice with his dazed manner. The preacher was notoriously good natured about everything. It took quite a bit for him to become as contemplative as he was now.

"Mr Sanchez, I detect that you are man singularly preoccupied." Ezra remarked.

"Well you are not the only one who has trouble with the ladies." Josiah confessed and decided that was as much as he was telling Ezra on this subject. His relationship with Audrey was on slow ground and he liked the idea of courting her, especially when she was living in the same town. When he had been infatuated with Maude Standish, there was something safe about knowing that she was not around for any length of time. However, with Audrey was different, she lived in Four Corners and she had a daughter whom he was very fond of. Josiah did not want things to go badly between himself and Audrey only to lose his friendship with Lilith as well.

"I am not having problems with the ladies." The gambler said lying through his teeth as he recalled the rather incendiary conversation he had had with Julia regarding this entire situation with Billy. He wished she could understand why he was doing this but then Julia, when her ire was raised could be extremely unreasonable. He supposed all women were that way at one point or another. "Julia is totally supportive of my attempts."

"I’m sure she is." Josiah replied, perfectly aware that Julia was anything but happy, if his conversation with her earlier was anything to go by. The woman had been practically smouldering when Josiah had run across her in the street.

"Can we drop the subject?" Ezra retorted and then added. "I thought we were discussing your problem."

"We were not discussing anything, I merely said I had a problem. I don’t see any reason to go into detail." Josiah said stiffly, not comfortable about discussing the subject with Ezra and rebuked himself about bringing it up in the first place.

"All is not well in the palace of the King?" The gambler probed further, unaware that his interest was not wanted.

Josiah flinched at the reference and replied. "I think you got enough troubles of your own to be concerned with mine." He said with just enough of a hint in his voice for Ezra to get the idea that he did not want further comment.

Ezra rolled his eyes and ordered a drink from one of the passing waiters that Inez had hired to deal with the afternoon crowd, deciding he did not want to get a chair thrown at him by pursuing the matter. Josiah could be extremely volatile when properly provoked and Ezra had enough to deal with today without having to contend with a rampaging preacher with issues about intimacy. Deciding to change the subject, Ezra noticed that JD was conspicuously absent.

"Where is our young sheriff this afternoon?" Ezra asked, deciding this was a far safer subject than asking Josiah any more about his personal difficulties with Audrey King, whatever they might be.

"I think he and Casey went riding." Josiah remarked and then glanced out the window to see that it did not look the weather for such an outing. "Could be wrong though, weather’s not looking too good."

"I believe a storm is brewing outside of town," Ezra remarked. "For their sake, I hope they are indoors."

"That’s not such a good idea," Josiah said realising that Nettie was not in town and who knows what two hormone driven youngsters could get up to while they were alone. "Nettie is not at the farm." He pointed out.

Ezra’s eyes widened and a slow grin crossed his lips. "You mean our little boy might just be all grown up today?"

Josiah gave Ezra a look and shook his head in disapproval. "You have no shame."

* * *

Ezra glanced at the clock and realised that it was time to begin.

He had no idea what was running through his head and now that the time had come, wondered how he had landed himself in such a ludicrous situation. He supposed he ought to be grateful that neither Chris nor Mary was in town or for that matter, speaking about parental disapproval, neither was Maude. Ezra could just imagine that horror on her face if she were to walk in here and discover that he was playing ‘go fish’ of all things with a little boy. Still, it was too late to reconsider now especially since the time had come and withdrawing from the venture would make him look more pathetic then he did already.

Ezra looked around hoping that he might have some moral support from this friends but neither Buck nor Josiah were to be seen and God only knew what JD was getting up to all alone with Casey at Nettie’s place. Suffice to say, wild oats were probably being sewn even as he was thinking it and shook the thought of out of his head, since he needed to be concentrating.

_Listen to yourself, concentrating on a game of go fish!_

Ezra though to himself with disgust, realising just how far he had fallen to this endeavour and decided that the best thing he could do to salvage his dignity, such as it was, was to get this day over and done with as soon as possible. For some reason, while none of his friends appeared to be present, everyone else seemed to be. He wondered how it was possible for the entire town to hear about this and then decided it to be one of those mysteries that seem common only to small communities.

As he sat at his usual table waiting for his opponent to arrive, Ezra tried not to pay attention to the sniggers and jokes that were being made at his expense by the rest of the drinkers inside the Standish Tavern. He kept reminding himself that he was now the owner of this establishment and had the right to eject anyone from the premises who became too annoying. That left a very good feeling in the pit of his soul to be able to refer to himself as the owner of the Standish Tavern. Rain had left the bar tendering duties and Inez was doing the honours for the present time while the young woman took some time to rest. No doubt, Elena Rose was in the care of her father, who was probably running around town trying to dodge his former paramour.

"Mrs Wilmington," Ezra called out to the lady who was in the process of serving. "Do you think that I might have a whisky when you have the time?"

She glanced at him as she handed over a patron his beer and remarked. "I am not serving you anything that remotely has alcohol in it." She replied firmly, taking on that expression of quiet determination that Ezra should have known better than to argue with.

"And pray tell why not?" He asked. "I am after all proprietor of this establishment and technically," he exuded a smug grin. "Your employer."

"Really?" She frowned giving him a scathing glare as he reminded him of the fact. "Aside from the fact you are allowing the son of my best friend into a place like this to play cards with you should be reason enough, I would think. On top of teaching him your bad habits, I will not have you drinking in front of him as well."

"You know you make it sound as if I instigated this nonsense in the first place." He pointed out.

"You are a grown man, that is a little boy." She declared. "I would think that is all the explanation that is needed to understand that you should know better."

"I wish everyone would stop saying that." Ezra grumbled, having come to his senses in the last hour or so to know that everyone had been correct about it. It might have been less tedious if he had just gone and exchanged the gift instead of making the fuss about it that he had which had led Billy to issue this challenge.

"Why?" Inez looked at him critically. "It is true. You are being jealous over an eight year old boy."

"For the last time," Ezra bristled with annoyance hearing that over and over again. "I am not jealous."

"Prove it." She dared him with an imperious look. "Cry defeat and let Billy give Julia his present."

"Madam," the southerner looked at her, not at all happy about that idea. "I do not believe that simply succumbing and allowing the boy an easy victory is any way to teach him good moral standards. I realise that coming from me it is rather amusing but I would remiss if I allowed his delinquency to continue by this action."

Inez rolled her eyes, an indication that he was hopeless and there was no point continuing this debate when it was obvious that he was determined to remain on his course, no matter how ludicrous it might be. Ezra did not think it was ludicrous. He just could not bring himself to cry defeat no matter how much he may loathed the idea of playing in public with Billy Travis for the right to give Julia his gift, even though it was likely she would not accept it once it was all said and done.

"Hey Ezra," someone said from the crowd. "I’ll be the kid wins."

"I take umbrage at that." Ezra turned away from the counter trying to spot who was it that had made the remark but no one seemed eager to reveal themselves for that jibe. However, the crowd obviously found the taunt amusing because they were all laughing and Ezra had to clear his throat and force away the rising embarrassment he was starting to feel about this whole thing.

What on earth had possessed him to undertake such foolishness?

Whatever the reason, he had little time to consider the matter to its full extent when he saw young Master Travis entering the bat wing doors. The boy looked rather apprehensive as he entered the place with men looking at him and laughing at the youthful opponent that was meant to take the notorious cardsharp down a peg or two. As he crept past the doors, Ezra could see the child was clearly frightened to be in here and fell worse than ridiculous for pursuing this little competition. He felt like scum and wondered if it were not too late to give in now.

Billy swallowed visibly as he made his way through the faces of strangers, looking at him with a mixture of amusement and derision, not to mention downright disapproval at what he was doing inside a saloon. Billy had sinking feeling he may not be able to keep this a secret from his ma or Chris, neither of whom would be terribly impressed at his being in this place at this time of the day. He finally arrived at the table, his hat in his hand as he looked around nervously.

"Master Travis," Ezra said sitting down and feeling terribly guilty by the waif life expression on the boy’s face. "Perhaps we ought to reconsider this."

"No," Billy shook his head, determined to see this though. He was a gentleman after all. He had made a challenge and he was no coward. Chris was always saying a real man didn’t walk away from a fight, he finished it and Billy was going to finish it. Of course, Chris probably did not mean this and when it was time to account himself to his parents, who were going to be mad, he reminded himself to use that argument. "I’m here to play. Are you chickening out?"

Ezra did not like the use of the word and replied immediately before his sense overtook him. "What’s your pleasure? Master Travis?"

"Go fish." Billy repeated as he took a seat across the table from the gambler waiting for the older man to sit down and began the game. As it was, a couple of people had crowded in on them, anxious to watch the fun.

"Don’t you have anything better to do!" Inez barked across the bar, not at all happy that Billy was here but not about to interfere either because this was clearly one of those things that required his mother or his stepfather to deal with. "If you want to drink, order." She said to those planning on watching the game. "If not, pay up and leave. This isn’t an entertainment parlour."

Ezra was secretly glad that the woman had disbanded the group watching them, not only for the sake of his eroded dignity but also for the peace of mind of his youthful opponent who was decidedly uncomfortable about being watched by everyone. Once they had left the two combatants alone, Ezra retrieved the deck of cards he always carried upon his person and placed it on the felt covered table.

"Before we begin, I would like to make certain that you have no reservations regarding our little competition. If you wish to withdraw, I will understand." Ezra said gently, wishing to give the boy ample opportunity to save face if he so desired by providing this graceful exit.

"No," he shook his head sombrely. He tried to keep his fidgeting to a minimum because Ezra himself had told Billy on numerous occasions that in games of chances no matter it be poker or black jack or even go fish, he must never let the other opponent know what was on his mind. "I want to play."

Ezra, who was more than capable of seeing through the facade Billy was attempting to maintain, knew that the child was terrified and trying desperately to hide it from him. With the possible exception of the time he had run out on Chris Larabee and the rest of the seven during their first adventure together, Ezra did not believe he could feel so low or disgusted with himself until this moment. However, it was too late for either of them to extricate themselves from the situation now.

"All right then," Ezra let out a sigh as he picked up the cards and started to deal.

* * *

Even though she was burning with curiosity, Julia Pemberton was determined not to be present at the debacle that taking place in the Standish Tavern. As it was, she was humiliated beyond belief that her lover was indulging in this gross act of stupidity and atypical male pride. She wondered if it was just the southern variety or did all members of the sex behave in this way. Julia decided she had no intention of finding out and gave the saloon a wide berth, busying herself instead within the confines of her Emporium. There was work to be done and what semblance of dignity she had in this town after those two men played for her approval like she was chattel would still remain inside these walls.

She was passing by the restaurant when she noticed young Lilith King having ice cream alone at a table. Julia was somewhat surprised at why the young girl was not at Billy’s side since the two seemed joined at the hip at times. Lilith was a nice child, somewhat bizarre in her behaviour and attitudes but then Julia was hardly conventional in her youth and some of the things she had indulged in still left a bad taste in her mouth, literally. Entering the establishment, the restaurant was full at this time of the day and so the girl at a table alone was something of a stand out and the cause of much speculation. Julia gathered as much from the expressions on the faces of local matrons about who were no doubt commenting at how the King child was left to wander about on her own.

"Hello there." Julia greeted upon approaching the girl’s table. Although Lilith was working slowly through a rather large bowl of vanilla ice cream topped with raspberry sauce, she did not seem very enthused about it and deepened Julia’s curiosity.

"Miss Julia!" Lilith exclaimed, somewhat surprised to see the beautiful grown up here. Lilith had thought for certain that she would have gone to see Billy and Ezra playing cards. "How come you’re here?"

"I might ask the same thing of you," Julia said with a smile. "Can I join you?" She asked, always remembering to treat the children she knew as adults because she knew how much she hated condescending elders when she was a child and had no wish to become the same to either Billy or Lilith.

"Sure, Miss Julia." Lilith replied, dying to know why Miss Pemberton was not at the saloon. "And I asked you first." She pointed out as the older woman nestled herself in the chair next to hers.

"Fair enough," Julia admitted with a smile. "I don’t wish to see those two men being stupid at my expense."

"But Billy’s playing for you." Lilith declared, wondering if Julia knew how much it meant to Billy to give her his gift. He had worked so hard the last few weeks to save up enough for that present, Lilith felt that Julia should at least be there.

"I know that," Julia sighed regretfully. "I would love nothing more than to be able to say that I’m happy and proud that he’s playing for me but I am happy at neither of them at this moment. Ezra is behaving like a child and Billy’s trying to be an adult, all to impress me. It’s silly. I never asked that of either of them and yet they feel they must compete for my attention."

"Oh." Lilith nodded in understanding, starting to appreciate Julia’s situation in all this. She supposed she would not want to be caught in a tug of war either. "I tried to tell him you liked Ezra different than him but he doesn’t believe me."

"Well," Julia sighed. "They’re men and universally, they’re collectively dumb in that respects. It doesn’t matter how old they are, they still behave like boys or worse yet they do their thinking with their..." she desisted in continuing with that particular statement, reminding herself that she had a minor audience in her company and Lilith was looking at her waiting for her to finish.

"Their first impulses." She amended her sentence and reminded herself to be more careful in the future. "Ezra is just being stubborn and he ought to know better, so I’m more mad with him than I am with Billy." She confessed.

"I’m more mad with Billy than I am with Ezra." Lilith stated, taking another spoonful of her ice cream. "I told him he couldn’t beat Ezra who plays cards real good but he wouldn’t believe me. He just that I’m a girl and I don’t know anything."

Julia rolled her eyes and said with a little smile. "Lilith, by the time you get to my age, you find out that’s what they always say when they can’t win an argument, either that or they go shoot somebody which sort of makes me wonder what’s going in Mary’s house because Chris is shooting someone every second day."

Lilith started to giggle at the thought.

"Look," Julia smiled, thinking the girl looked lovely when she did not have that serious expression on her face. "Billy’s just young and he’s impressionable and once he understands a little better, I’ll just be one of those old friends of his mother’s that occasionally shows up. It won’t last and when that happens, I am sure he’s going to find out what a special girl you are."

Lilith beamed. "You think so?"

"I know so." Julia answered. "Of course by the time he grows up, I’ll probably in jail, having killed Ezra for making me go through this embarrassment." She laughed.

"Who do you think will win?" Lilith asked after a moment.

"Honestly," Julia thought about it. "I have no idea." She shrugged her shoulders in response. "Ezra’s pretty good with the cards but I can’t recall the last time he sat in a game of high stakes ‘go fish’ so anything could happen. Does Billy play go fish a lot?" She asked Lilith.

"He used to play a lot and then Ezra taught him how to play craps but he got into trouble at school so Mrs Larabee wouldn’t let him play cards any more. He has a deck of cards though that Ezra gave him hidden under his bed and he’s been practicing with it all morning." Lilith revealed causing Julia to shake her head in disbelief.

  
She remembered the incident all too well and how Ezra had been  _persona non grata_  in Mary Larabee’s books for the next week. Somehow, it would not surprise him that Billy would have a deck of cards stored away thanks to Ezra. If she ever spoke to him again, Julia made a point to bring up the subject of teaching children how to gamble. God only knew what he must have been teaching Elena Rose on the few occasions the baby had been left with him. Julia had already caught him playing blackjack with the child.

"So was Ezra." Julia replied, recalling the practise session he had been attempting to hide away from her inside his room this morning. "I think between their skills at go fish and their emotional maturity, I’d say they’re evenly matched."

Lilith did not quite understand what Julia was saying but she nonetheless assumed the lady had not paid either Billy or Ezra a compliment with that statement. She felt her stomach start to grizzle from the overload of sugar and pushed the bowl away, deciding that she had enough. "Maybe we ought to see how they’re doing." She said meekly, confessing her desire to know how they were faring.

"What say," Julia narrowed her eyes and gave Lilith a look of mischief. "We go have a look see."

"Okay," the young girl nodded eagerly, finding her annoyance at Billy much more palatable when she had a co-conspirator.

* * *

Despite the fact that he was playing go fish, Ezra found that this was as challenging as any game of high stakes poker he had ever indulged in. This was mostly because despite Inez’s best efforts to keep people from standing by and gawking at them as if they were participants in a three-ringed circus, a large group of people had nonetheless found their way around the table to watch the proceedings. To his credit, Billy acquitted himself quite well in front of their audience, trying not to let them know that their presence was making him nervous.

While Ezra could read the young man and knew exactly what he had before he even put the card down on the table, the gambler found himself admiring the determination being displayed by Billy to prevail against him. While they were evenly matched in this game, since it was something that relied more upon luck than anything else and it appeared that both man and child were in possession of the same fortunes, no clear winner had yet to emerge from their trials.

"Tell me something young Master Travis," Ezra asked as they continued to play, trying to ignore the faces around them. Inez had given up trying to keep them at bay and had retreated to the kitchen in order to prepare the meals for the evening crowd. "That pendant you purchased from Mr Wing cost you two dollars did you say?"

"Yes." Billy nodded picking up a card and putting one down at the same time. "I paid Mr Wing two dollars for it. He said he was giving me a bargain."

I’m sure, Ezra though to himself.

"Two dollars is a lot of money." Ezra remarked off handedly. "That amounts to two days of work defending this illustrious town from brigands and outlaws for me. How did you come by that princely sum?"

"I worked for it." Billy chirped proudly. "I knew Julia’s birthday was coming and so I asked ma to let me do some chores around the house for two weeks. I helped her with the washing up and did little things for her at the paper. Chris let me brush some of the horses down at the ranch and even showed me how to put a harness on one of them." He was pleased with what he had managed to achieve in the acquiring of his finances.

  
Ezra listened to all that and felt immediately worse. "Really." He mused. "You must have been exhausted undertaking such undignified menial labour. Mr Larabee really has no shame."

"Oh it was all right," Billy said brightly, his spirits picking up now that Ezra was talking to him like he was not mad any more. "I didn’t mind doing it because I wanted to get Julia something special."

_Oh hell._

Ezra groaned inwardly and knew that he could not go through with this. The boy had worked himself to the bone to get that money and all he had done was to fleece the usual morons who came into this place thinking they could take him at the tables, when they never could. It was easy money as far as Ezra was concerned and he did not even need to break out a sweat at having to take it from them. Meanwhile, this little boy who weighed about as much as his saddle had been working diligently to earn the pittance to buy the woman they both loved a special gift. Ezra was mortified by his behaviour. There was nothing honourable or gentlemanly about this and all he had proved to everyone, especially Julia that he was an immature dolt.

As if to add insult to injury, he saw a crown of red hair making its way through the crowd of drinkers at the saloon. The men immediately stepped aside for the beautiful red head who flashed them a radiant smile in appreciation as they made way for her. Next to her was Lilith, who was following closely and immediately made the conversation around the room less raucous as hardened men minded their manners in front of the child. There was something about having a little girl in the room that left more impression on their mind than having a boy child in their presence.

"Julia." Ezra said with unconcealed surprise once she reached the table. "I was under the impression that you would not be joining us during this occasion."

"Lilith and I decided that we needed to see for ourselves how ridiculous you both were." She said smugly and then examined the table. "I see no clear winner yet." She noted.

"Master Travis is quite the opponent." Ezra commented and garnered a look of happiness from the youth at being given such an endorsement to the object of his affections. "I am finding that I may be unable to defeat him as readily as I previously believed." He offered Julia a small smile which she immediately understood.

"Are you saying that you might concede that this was an ill considered venture in the first place?" She asked coolly, not about to let him get away that easily.

"I think you are right on all counts." He said with a sigh and then looked at his cards and decided that this foolishness had gone on long enough and he had should have known better in the first place to have embarked upon it. After hearing what Billy had endured to secure Julia her gift, Ezra had come to the firm conclusion that Billy had  _always_  been more entitled to give it to her than himsellf.

"Well Master Travis," Ezra turned to Billy and declared. "I must confess that my hand is not a very good one." Ezra’s voice oozed southern charm and a hint of chivalry. "I must concede defeat."

"Defeat?" The boy looked at him blankly. "I don’t understand..." He stammered.

  
"He means you win stupid!" Lilith rolled her eyes and blurted out before Ezra could put it to the young boy more clearly then that.

"Charmingly put Miss King." Ezra flinched at her delivery while Julia merely smiled as if she and the young girl were sharing some enormously funny joke they were not letting anyone share in.

"I win?" Billy exclaimed, still having trouble believing that he could have beaten Ezra at cards as the gambler put down his hand, further evidencing his cry of surrender.

"I believe that is the usual conclusion when your opponent gives up." Ezra smiled and was unable to deny the grin that stole across the boy’s face at his victory was more rewarding than actually winning. To his horror, the gambler had this awful feeling that he might be mellowing. Damn, this town was making him go very soft.

"I win!" The boy jumped off his chair exuberantly. "I told you Lily!" He said to the young girl who was beaming brightly at his success. "I told you I could beat him."

"Now Billy," Julia came up to Billy and lowered herself enough to give him a little kiss on the cheek that made him go bright red. "You mustn’t be a poor winner." She reminded.

Having won and on a receiving end of a kiss from Julia was more than enough to convince him and Billy turned to Ezra and replied. "Thanks Ezra, playing you was fun."

"We must do it again sometime," Ezra smiled and then glanced around the room before adding. "In a less public surrounding." With that, the gambler stood up from his chair and announced. "A round of applause if you would gentlemen to the boy for a game well played and a free drink on the house for your trouble."

With that incentive, the room broke into a wild applause that almost rocked the foundations of the building but nevertheless, Billy found himself accepting their congratulations quite capably. Meanwhile, Julia sidled next to Ezra and gave him a little kiss on his cheek.

"You do realise of course," she whispered in his ear while Billy was receiving his due from those present. "That there is a consolation prize for the loser."

"Oh really Miss Pemberton," Ezra looked at her with a cocked brow. "And pray tell what might that be?"

Julia smiled wickedly and whispered quietly once again.

"And nothing else?" His eyes widened.

"And nothing else." She replied and sauntered past him, wearing that look in her eye that could mean only thing;

Ezra was going to be able to give her the perfect birthday gift after all and it would not cost him a cent. 


	5. Old Flames

 

Buck Wilmington was nervous.

  
He paced up and down the floor of the jailhouse, occasionally pausing at the barred windows long enough to ensure that no one was making their way into the building. Although there was no prisoners occupying any of the cells, he nonetheless felt comforted by the bars on the window and the sturdy doors that would keep away any unwanted visitors who got it in their minds to see him even if he did not wish it so. Buck realised that he was probably being just a little bit paranoid but unfortunately, he could not risk Millie finding him here.

He had spent much of the morning after she had come to the Standish Tavern with her shock announcement that she had returned to Four Corners in order to rekindle their romance, trying to ensure that he did not run into her again. Buck had faced outlaws, insane Ku Klux Klan fanatics, terrorists, alien creatures and mechanical monsters and none of them had him as fearful as facing that pretty young woman with her dark hair and sugary smile. Buck had prided himself in his ability to stay faithful since he had married Inez and even though he had been a notorious philander prior to that, he had always promised himself that when he took his marriage vows, they would not be just words to him. His marriage to Inez meant  _something_. He did not want to betray her trust in any way, least of all for a young woman he hardly knew.

The last few months had been sheer bliss. Buck had not envisioned that he could be so happy but the truth was, he was thrilled with the domestic turn his life had taken. He loved going home to Inez after working at the ranch or taking care of the trouble that came riding into town all too frequently. Walking into the house, with the sounds of her and Elena and taking a deep breath of supper cooking was as close to heaven as he had ever dreamed. Buck had never though the family life could suit him so well but it really did make all the difference when one was passionate in love with one’s wife and the child she borne him. Just thinking about Elena Rose was enough to bring a smile to Buck’s face, despite his present troubles. At five months, she was a beautiful child although Buck had to concede his opinion was rather biased.

He did not want to lose all that by being tempted by Millie nor did he want to hurt the young woman by telling her the truth that he had moved on with his life. After all, the poor thing had dragged her entire family back to Four Corners in order to rekindle their relationship. How was he supposed to tell her that she had remained in his mind approximately two hours after her departure from town before he was in the company of Erica the newest saloon girl at the time. With the exception of Inez, Buck never really did have that much of an attention span when it came to women.

Now she was back, expecting to start up with him and Buck had no idea how to tell her the truth that he was deliriously happy and already married with no chance whatsoever of anything else taking place between them. Millie was a nice girl and while he had no intention of starting anything with her, Buck was determined not to leave her a scarred shell of a woman by his refusal. Somehow, he had to think of some way to avoid her and break it to her gently without crushing that tender, willowy spirit inside her chest.

Sometimes this animal magnetism was such a curse.

His mind was still whirling around his situation when suddenly the door burst open and the surprise of the sudden sound, made Buck jump in his chair with such force that he fell backwards.

"Goddamn!" Buck swore loudly as he crashed heavily into the floor.

"Hey Buck, you okay?" JD Dunne asked in concern as he hurried to the desk and peered over it to see the amusing sight of Buck Wilmington attempting to untangle his long legs from around the wooden chair in an effort to pick himself up off the floor.

"Boy!" Buck hissed getting up to his feet, trying to maintain his dignity while dusting himself off and straightening the hat on his head. "How many times have I told you not to barge in on me like that?"

JD merely stared at Buck. "Now that you mention, never it." The youth said smugly. "What’s the matter with you Buck? You’re looking like you’re half crazy."

"There ain’t nothing wrong with me," Buck barked, looking out the window to make sure no one else made any surprise visits. As it was, he was quite annoyed that he had been day dreaming, allowing JD to just sneak up on him like he had. "What are you doing here anyway? I thought you and Casey were going riding or something." He asked in an effort to change the subject as he sat down on the chair once more.

JD did not miss Buck’s attempt to detract from the topic at discussion but decided he had very little time to linger upon it since he had promised to join Casey at the livery in about five minutes so they could get going to the farm. Shaking his head and attributing this as one of those bizarre traits that was just plain Buck, JD tried to remember what he had come here for in the first place. "I just came to tell you that I’ll be at the farm with Casey if anyone’s looking for me."

"At the farm?" Buck looked at him. "Weren’t you taking that little girl out riding? Now come on JD, I’ve told you once and I’ve told you a dozen times, you can’t go breaking promises with a girl. If you promised to take her riding, you can’t get lazy on her and do something else."

"Hey it ain’t my idea to skip the ride." JD retorted, offended that Buck would think he would treat Casey so shabbily. He loved the girl dearly and had no intention of breaking her heart with such disappointment. "Besides have you looked outside?" He glanced at the window.

Buck had been so preoccupied by thoughts of Millie that he had not bothered to take close stock of the climate. However, as he gazed into the sky, he could see why JD might think it prudent to abandon his idea of taking Casey for a ride in the country. While the storm looked as if it might pass Four Corners, the same could not be said for the outlying areas. Judging by the dark shades of the cumulous clouds in the distance, Buck did not think it was advisable for anyone to brave such weather.

"Yeah," he had to admit. "It does look plenty nasty out there."

"Anyway," JD continued now that Buck had the full picture. "Casey wants me to go with her to the farm for the afternoon. Probably has some chores she needs helping with."

"Nettie still away?" Buck asked offhandedly, finding something strange about that because Casey was one of the most independent young women he knew. However, considering the fact that Four Corners had more than its share of fiercely self reliant women, he supposed she was not that much of a stand out. Still, Buck was always of the opinion that Casey would never ask JD for any help especially because of the way she felt about him.

"Yeah, she won’t be back for a few days." JD answered as he started to withdraw out of the room. "I should be back before nightfall." He replied.

"Okay," Buck said watching the street outside for any signs of Millie, not really listening to the youth in any detail. "You have a nice time now."

"Are you still trying to dodge Millie?" JD asked, suddenly realising the possible reason for Buck’s odd behaviour. He recalled how panicked the big man had been when the young woman had come into the saloon and tried not to laugh as images of a terrified Buck Wilmington appeared in his mind and he was forced to stifle a smile at the memory.

"I ain’t trying to dodge Millie." Buck growled, not wanting the boy to think that he was running. JD was very impressionable and Buck did not want him to get the wrong idea that he could be afraid of a woman because he was  _definitely_  not. "It’s my turn in the jailhouse that’s all."

"Oh really?" JD gave him a smug look that indicated that he did not believe Buck for one minute.

"Get that look off your face." Buck scowled at him. "I’m telling ya, I’m not trying to dodge Millie."

"So why don’t you just tell her that you’re married Buck?" JD questioned, feeling a little wiser than Buck because he knew that for once inexperience did not lack for a clear understanding of this situation. As far as JD was concerned, Buck had only one course ahead of him and it was the most obvious one of all.

"I can’t just tell her that!" Buck exclaimed, wondering whether or not he was the only sensitive male in the entire town. "It will break her heart. What kind of heartless monster do you think I am? You heard her, she convinced her daddy to bring her all the way back here so that she could be with me! If I told her that I done and got married on her, it will crush her poor soul and I ain’t ready to do that."

JD thought that Buck was seriously overestimating how Millie would take it but there was no convincing Buck when he was like this and the young man was eager to meet Casey at the livery. "Whatever you say Buck," JD replied opening the door. "I’ve got to get going."

"You do that." Buck retorted, deciding he did not want to discuss this subject any further with the kid.

JD pulled open the door and suddenly exclaimed, "Hey Millie!"

Buck quickly ducked for cover beneath the desk until he saw the chuckle on JD’s face and glared at him through narrowed eyes. "You keep that up and you ain’t gonna be in no position to help Casey with any chores."

"See you Buck." JD grinned and left.

Buck was still under the table about to climb out when he heard the door open again and wondered what JD wanted this time.

"Buck, what are you doing down there?" He heard Inez’s voice asking as she walked into the jailhouse. Buck stood up too hastily and slammed his head into the underside of the table cursing wildly as the pain flared across his skull.

"Owww!" He cried out as the impact of his head against the wood made a loud thud.

"Buck!" Inez immediately set down Elena Rose who was in her bassinette on the floor, along with the bag containing all the incidentals a baby would need for a period of time away from home. "Are you alright?"

She rounded the desk and helped him out from under it. Buck grimaced as he emerged, rubbing the tender spot on the top of his head as he regarded his wife. "Inez, what are you doing here?"

"I need you to look after Elena." Inez explained as she helped Buck into his chair. "What were you doing?"

"I was looking for a pencil." He said hastily as she examined his head for any signs of injury. "Its okay, darling I’m fine." He declared as she started moving her fingers through his hair in search of a wound.

"What for?" She asked pulling away once she was satisfied that he had not injured himself.

"I was filling reports." He said thinking up the first excuse that popped into his mind before he realised that his desk was utterly devoid of any paper and his wife was looking at him as if he had taken that bump to his head just a little  _too_  hard.

"Right," Inez shook her head, deciding that this was just one of those weird things she had to put up with upon marrying Buck Wilmington and chose not to ask any further questions on the subject. Leaving him in his chair, she hurried back to Elena Rose and lifted the child’s bassinette from the floor before placing her on the table before Buck. "I know you’re on jailhouse duty today but I don’t have much of a choice. Rain is so worried about how Nathan will do I really don’t want to force the baby on her and with Mary and Alex out of town and Julia almost homicidally angry with Ezra, I don’t think she can cope with baby sitting. I’ve got to get to the bar already and get started on the lunch menu."

Buck saw his little daughter smiling and chortling inside her wicker basket and immediately felt his heart melt. There was no way he could refuse that cherubic face smiling at him through a mess of dark curls and a toothless grin that was nonetheless enchanting. "I think I can spend some time with my little girl." He smiled warmly as he reached into the bassinette and enclosed his large hands around the small life staring at him with his blue eyes. "You want to keep daddy company Rose?" He asked and the baby rewarded with another giggle before he turned back to Inez. "You go on and do whatever you got to, we’ll be fine." He said turning back to his daughter as he held her against his chest. "Won’t we Elena?"

"Thank you Buck," Inez smiled at him and pressed her lips against his in a gentle kiss. "Now I’ve got two bottles prepared for her and clean diapers in her bag, try and get to her to take a nap after you feed her or else she’ll be up all night and so will we." She replied as she headed for the door.

"You don’t worry about a thing now," Buck called out to her as she started out of the building. "Me and Rose here will be just fine."

"I know you will," Inez flashed him one of her killer smiles that Buck could always feel down to his toes. "Oh do you want me to send some lunch up here?"

The thought of Inez’s fine cooking made his stomach lurch in response. "Yeah, do that." He called out and heard her sing out that she would just before the door closed behind her.

Buck let out a sigh after she had gone and fell into his chair once more with a heavy sigh. He placed Elena on his lap and regarded his daughter who had taken one of his digits and was gnawing prodigiously upon with her toothless gums.

"I tell you honey," Buck said to Elena, attracting the child’s attention with the sound as her eyes met his for a moment, still chewing on his finger. "It don’t pay to be a faithful man sometimes."

* * *

While most men would consider feeding and burping a baby to be a solely feminine pursuit, Buck had learnt that he was not of that opinion after close observation of how Chris Larabee had approached fatherhood when Adam was born. Although was thrilled that Chris had moved on with his life by marrying again and now was expecting a child to his new family, Buck had to admit that Chris was still a shadow of the man he had been. When Adam had born, Chris was so full of determination to be the perfect father. Buck had no doubt that when the baby was born to him and Mary, he might take the same interest he did before but even Buck knew that he would never see the unbridled enthusiasm that had been when Adam was born.

In those days, Buck could never see what was so wonderful about feeding a child, changing diapers or watching it sleep. He supposed it really did mean something when people said that you never knew until it happened to you. Well it had and Buck had started to understand why Chris took such an interest in Adam’s life from the moment he was born. Buck did not have to ask but he was sure Chris remembered the date that Adam had sprouted his first tooth, when the child had taken his first steps and possibly even his first word. Perhaps that was why Chris had been hit so hard by the loss of the child and his mother. Lord knew that if were Buck, he’d be similarly devastated.

After feeding Elena Rose and burping her, Buck lulled her to sleep and the little girl soon drifted off while still lying against his chest. Buck saw no reason to move her when she was so comfortably nestled there. He reached for newspaper he had picked up earlier and began leafing through it, taking note of Mary Larabee’s writings on the progress of Four Corners and the general goings on around town. Not much was happening as he could personally attest to as it had been a quiet few weeks. The most interesting thing in the whole paper seemed to be Mary’s editorial on the progress of the town. The newspaper had diligently listed the up and coming businesses in town and was pleased to note that the Lucky Seven horse ranch appeared to be one as well. Although the ranch was new, it was still the only place that new horses could be bought locally without potential buyers having to go Sweet Water or Bitter Creek.

Buck was busily leafing through the pages when he glanced briefly out the window and noticed Millie crossing the street. It was obvious by the direction of her gaze that she was about to make her way towards the jailhouse.

"Hell!" He swore and almost sprang up from his seat when he realised that Elena was still on his chest. Picking her up gently but as swiftly as he could, Buck placed his daughter in her bassinette. The sudden removal from her father’s warmth roused the baby from her sleep and she immediately let out plaintive wail at her change of sleeping place.

"Oh come on now darling," Buck pleaded with the child as the cherubic face wrinkled into a heart breaking cry of unhappiness. However, his entreaties fell on uncomprehending ears as she started to howl, inciting Buck to hastily collect all her things and shove them into the bag Inez had provided for the purpose. Buck found himself scrambling for rattles, face cloths and bottles and cursed out loud at how much stuff children, especially infants, needed to travel and suddenly felt guilty about yelling at Inez to hurry up whenever they had to go anywhere with Elena.

In record time, he managed to gather all her things and slip them into her bag just as he saw Millie stepping onto the boardwalk outside the door through the window. Wasting no time, he picked up the bassinette from where Elena was still screaming her discontent and hurried to the back of the jailhouse to the small window that would empty out into the alleyway behind the building. Pushing it open, Buck dropped Elena and her bag onto the ground first before climbing through just as he heard the door open, allowing Millie to breach the walls of his supposedly secure bastion away from her.

Once inside the alleyway, Buck wasted no time in putting as much distance between himself and the jailhouse, making his way through the streets of Four Corners while trying to decide where he ought to go in order to continue his attempts to keep himself from Millie’s clutches. Finally, he decided that he needed a drink and the Standish Tavern was good enough for the moment. Besides, it was well after lunch and he was certain that Inez could handle taking Elena for at least twenty minutes while he took a breather.

Knowing that she would not be impressed if he brought their baby through the front door, Buck opted for the safer choice of the back entrance that led into the kitchen area. As he skimmed the side of the building, he could smell the aftermath of lunchtime cooking filling the air with its aromatic smells. Buck took a deep breath of it and let it fill his lungs, feeling a renewed bout of hunger despite having eaten only a short time ago. Elena had stopped crying and had settled down a bit so she did not give away Buck’s arrival as he walked through the door.

Inez was in the process of cleaning up the kitchen following the end of the lunch menu and was wrestling with dirty pots and pans when Buck walked into the room. "Hey darling." He greeted cheerfully as he entered and lifted the bassinette just high enough for her to see Elena gnawing on her fist. "Look who I brought to see you for a few minutes."

Inez wiped the soapy water from her brow and dried her hands on her apron as she came forward to meet them. "Let me guess," she gave him a look. "You thought to come visit me just after you realised you needed a drink?" She remarked with a knowing smile that indicated that she was not annoyed but wise to his ways.

"Now Inez," Buck retorted with a wounded expression in his voice. "Would I use our little angel for something so underhanded?" He looked at her innocently.

"In a minute." She said, unswayed by his attempt to convince her otherwise as she advanced Elena after Buck had placed her bassinette on top of the counter. "Hello there little Rose." Inez peered over the edge of the wicker and scooped up the little girl with her hands and cradled her closely to her body for a few seconds. Elena seemed happy to see her mother and Inez forgot all about what she and Buck had been discussing as she delighted in a few minutes of pleasure with her baby.

"I won’t be too long." Buck said smiling at the sight of both of them and felt a warm glow as he retreated out of the kitchen and left his wife and daughter to their own devices.

"We’ll be fine." Inez’s voice sang out to him as Buck emerged into the saloon and surveyed the immediate area.

The afternoon crowd had dwindled after lunch and while the scent of food had been quickly replaced with that of cheap whisky and beer, Buck could see some patrons still indulging themselves with their meals. Saloon girls were making the rounds of the floor, paying special attention to a bunch of cattle drovers who were in town after coming out from the trail. Still despite the lively atmosphere of the Standish Tavern, the happenings were pleasant and far from rowdy, thus not requiring the presence of the seven lawmen who were charged to protect the town to keep things from getting out of hand.

Buck searched the room for anyone he knew and saw the table normally occupied by the seven to be vacant except for Josiah who seemed deep in thought. This was hardly unusual for Josiah because the man was always philosophical about things but today, there seemed to a specific point of contention that furrowed his deep brow. Buck strode over to the table, wondering what on earth could make the preacher so reflective and thinking it would be nice if he forgot about his own troubles by perhaps helping Josiah with whatever was bothering him.

"Hey there Josiah," he greeted as he gestured for one of the saloon girls tending bar while Inez was working in the kitchen. "You look kinda bothered." He said pulling himself a chair.

"Hi there Buck," Josiah sidestepped the inquiry easily. "You still running from Millie?"

Buck bristled visibly and frowned. "I ain’t running from Millie, I’m just keeping out of her way so that I don’t got give her any news that might hurt her feelings. You know how fragile some women can be and you know how hard they fall for me. I could devastate by telling her she came back to Four Corners for nothing. I don’t want to be responsible for driving her into ruin."

Josiah rolled his eyes to the Lord and wondered if it was always sunny in that magical land of illusion that Buck Wilmington lived. "Yeah, I can see how that would be a problem." The preacher said neutrally.

"So what’s wrong?" Buck asked after he had served his beer and tipped his hat in gratitude at the saloon girl after giving a little tip.

"There’s nothing wrong." Josiah’s deep voice rumbled.

"Come on Josiah," Buck nudged, not ready to give up yet. Unlike the rest of the seven, Buck found that he could often talk to Josiah about insecurities he admitted to no one but the preacher. Josiah had a good ear and a somewhat non-judgemental when the occasion warranted it and he was capable of giving sound advice. Buck very much wanted to return the favour. "Even a preacher needs a friendly ear and it looks liked you need one even more."

Josiah frowned because Buck was right and while the man could be an utter juvenile at times, Buck Wilmington was surprisingly sensitive to the needs of his friends and was not afraid to say what needed saying. Anyone who could put his nose into Chris Larabee’s business and still have it attached to his face and not any other part of his anatomy was a fool.

"Its Audrey." He admitted reluctantly.

"You and the pretty lady had fight or something?" Buck inquired.

"Nothing like that." Josiah replied, looking more uncertain that he was upset and Buck wondered what could have possibly rattled that tranquil demeanour that seemed to offer everyone spiritual and inner calm when everything about them was going to hell in a hand basket. "She just came up with something very unexpected today and I’m not sure how to deal with it."

Despite himself, Buck was burning with curiosity to know what that might be but nevertheless bit his tongue because Josiah might clam up if he became to insistent and then he would never know. "I take it this is something pretty important that could change your relationship completely." Buck ventured a guess.

"How did you know?" Josiah looked at him.

"It’s usually the way with women." Buck shrugged because for once his vast experience women was being put to use for something other than soliciting the attentions for a little company. "So are you ready for something like that?" He asked, without actually inquiring what that something was.

"I could be." Josiah admitted. "But I don’t know if this is the way it’s meant to be or is it someone’s manipulation that had brought this about."

Now Buck was starting to get confused but he still did not press too hard. "Josiah, it might help if you sort of cleared things up a bit. I mean, who’d have reason to play games like that with you and Audrey anyway?"

"It ain’t a game," Josiah sighed, wishing he could explain all about Lilith’s predilections for spells and magic but held his tongue since it was not the quite of thing you just up and told someone. After all, he was the only one who remembered the strange spell that Lilith had conjured up when she had tried to give them their fondest wish. It had not been done of malice but rather of a desire to help her friends get something they wanted dearly. She was too young to understand that not all dreams were meant to come true and those that did, sometimes were not what one expected. Of course Buck knew nothing of this and Josiah had no wish to tell him. A hundred years ago, Lilith’s hobby could get her burnt at the stake, even more so because she was not a fake but a genuine dabbler in the arcane art. "Its been done to help things along."

"Do things need helping along?" Buck inquired. "Seems to me that you and Audrey were doing just fine pacing yourselves. Hell, I didn’t even get a chance to court Inez and I would dearly have loved to have done that before being saddled with a wife and kid. Now don’t get me wrong, I love my family but I think me and Inez missed out on something."

"You’re right," Josiah agreed but he was not as young as the others were and he was at a stage of life where moving slowly had its disadvantages. Unfortunately, with Lilith’s interference, Josiah had no idea what he was going to do. "Perhaps it ain’t such a bad idea to pull back a bit."

Buck was glad that he was able to offer Josiah something of a solution and made let his gaze sweep nonchalantly over the room when he noticed that there was a lot more people in the saloon then there was ten minutes ago. It seemed as if there was a fresh influx of patrons entering the place and taking seats in anticipation of something happening.

"Hey Josiah," Buck remarked. "Is it me or did it suddenly get crowded in here?" The big man asked the preacher who blinked and let his own eyes survey the room to see what Buck was talking about.

"I think the town’s heard about Ezra’s card game." Josiah volunteered.

"They came here just to see Ezra playing ‘go fish’ with an eight year old?" Buck declared incredulously and took stock of the new faces to see that most of them were glancing at the door or in the direction of the felt covered table he and Josiah were occupying which was known to all as the table of choice for the gambler.

"If you’ve been beaten as many times as they had been by Ezra, wouldn’t you want to be here to witness such an embarrassing event for Mr Standish?" Josiah pointed out.

"Which embarrassment would that be?" Buck looked at him with devilish grin. "The fact that he’s playing go fish with an eight year old or the possibility that he might lose?"

Both men descended into hearty laughter at the absurdity of the situation. It seemed all the more amusing because it was centred around the polished gambler who liked everyone to believe that he was in perfect control of a deck of a cards as well as the emotions he hid behind that facade he wore like a cloak over himself.

"So what are you gonna do about Millie?" Josiah asked once they had stopped laughing.

"I guess I got to come clean with her," Buck sighed, aware that he could not continue this running indefinitely. Sooner or later he was going to have to face her but he did not want to hurt the young woman and more importantly, he did not want Inez knowing about it either. Even though he had done nothing to be guilty about, Buck could not help feeling a little fearful of Inez finding out about another one of his girlfriends. It was not as if she had seen him parade through this place with a bevy of women since her arrival in town. Millie had left Four Corners before Inez had made her arrival in town and Buck did not want her to be introduced to another one of his former paramours. "I just don’t want to hurt her." Buck confessed.

"That’s admirable Buck," Josiah praised and honestly meant it. "But sometimes you got hurt someone to be kind. She ain’t gonna be no happier knowing that you’re hiding from her. Weren’t you the one who told me you always prided on being straight with your gals? If I recall correctly, I remember you saying something about always letting them know what to expect and not treating them like fools."

Buck scowled wishing Josiah had not remembered that golden piece of information because Buck did feel that way still even though he was married. A lady had right to know where she stood with a man when it was al said and done and certainly Millie deserved that same consideration.

Sometimes, Buck had too much damn advice for his own good.

* * *

"Buck!" Inez exclaimed as she saw her husband practically running into the kitchen a short time later. She glanced past the door as he scooted in past her and looked outside to see Ezra nestling himself at their usual table for his infamous game of cards with Billy Travis and wondered why Buck had come scurrying like he did. Inez was looking at him suspiciously now after he had made his unceremonious return to her kitchen, skulking in as if he was trying to escape something on the saloon floor. "What’s the matter with you. You’re as nervous as hell!"

"Me?" He stared back at her as if unable to imagine what she could be talking about and pretended to feign ignorance as he straightened up to show that he was as normal as could be. "What gave you that idea?" He asked taking a step towards her.

"You did." She met his eyes sceptically, her hands on her hips in a clear indication that she did not believe him. "I have known you long to know when you are spinning me a story Buck and right now, you’re like a spider with a web. What’s happening?" She demanded.

"I’m telling you darling," Buck tried a different tact, exuding charm instead in an effort to sway her belief that anything could be wrong.. "There ain’t nothing to tell." He placed his hand on her shoulders and drew her to him in a gentle kiss. Buck delivered to her the most searing kiss he could produce in order to drive all thoughts of his odd behaviour from her mind. When he parted from her, Buck offered her a smile. "I promise you darling, I ain’t getting up to no trouble or am I in any."

Inez blinked, savouring the kiss but not quite prepared to dispel the notion that there was something wrong either. However, it did not look as if an explanation was forthcoming and she had too much to do in the saloon without having to unravel the idiosyncrasies of her husband’s psyche. Besides knowing how this things usually turned out, she had the idea that eventually whatever he was involved in would blow up in his face and she would hear about it any way.

"Fine," she threw her hands up in a gesture that indicated she was washing her hands of the subject. "Whatever. Look just take Elena out of here for awhile." She ordered. "I have to go tend to the bar for the next hour or two until Rain get here."

"No problem," he said with a broad grin, determined to give her no room for suspicion as he picked up the bassinette where Elena was sleeping soundly. How she managed to do that with the rumble of noise emanating from the floor of the saloon was beyond him and Buck attributed the talent to one of those skills familiar only to babies. "I’ll take her to the jailhouse again. It’s nice and peaceful in there."

"As long as you don’t get into any trouble." She warned.

"Would I do that?" He said innocently.

Inez did not even bother to dignify that remark with an answer and chose to move on to another subject instead. "I finish here in two hours so be back then. I want to get home to start cooking supper." She reminded him as he backed away towards the door.

"I’ll be here to get you." He replied and hurried out of the place before she had any further questions for him.

* * *

Once he was out of the saloon, Buck allowed himself a sigh of relief at having eluded Millie yet again. He knew this was ridiculous. He could not keep this up indefinitely and yet he had reached the point where he was willing to face Millie and tell her the truth. Buck wondered if it was safe enough to go back to the jailhouse in order for him to lay low for a couple of hours. Buck just wanted to get through the rest of the day without running into Millie so he could get home tonight and figure out what he ought to do about her tomorrow. While the idea to remain hidden was tempting indeed, Buck knew that Inez was no fool and eventually, she would learn about Millie’s solicitations towards him. His wife was suspicious enough about his ability to remain faithful without his adding fuel to the fire by doing anything stupid.

Buck had presumed that Millie was in the saloon. Since Ezra had indicated to him as much earlier and had precipitated his premature flight from the Standish Tavern, missing out on the gambler’s infamous card game with Billy Travis. Thus, Buck did not even notice the petite figure advancing towards him as he made his return to the jailhouse until she was right on top of him.

"Buck!" She gushed.

"Millie." He swallowed hard and looked up, almost stricken with fear at being caught, especially with him carrying a bag full of Elena’s things not to mention Elena herself, who was nestled in the folds of swaddling inside the bassinette he was carrying. "Why hello there." He tried to say as if her sudden appearance was a pleasure instead of bolting like his initial instincts upon sighting her was instructing.

"Buck Wilmington, what are you doing with that baby?" She asked before descending into typical feminine delight at seeing anything small that drooled. "Oh isn’t she beautiful?" Millie asked, all in the same sentence.

"She sure is." Buck had to agree with her and wondered if this was not the best opening to let her in on the truth and then decided against it. "Her name’s Elena Rose." He could not help boasting."

"Who is she Buck?" Millie raised her blue eyes to him.

"Well…I’m babysitting." Buck said quickly before he adequately think up a better response. "That’s it, I’m baby sitting for Inez who works at the saloon."

"Isn’t that sweet of you." She touched his cheek and wrinkled her brow in confusion when he took three steps back like a man scalded and looked positively terrified of her. "Buck is something wrong?"

"No!" He exclaimed. "Nothing at all Millie," he laughed off the suggestion. "I’m just real anxious to get her indoors, her mother’s mighty annoyed if she’s late for her nap."

"Just who is this Inez?" Millie asked suspiciously, her pink lips curling into a pout. "Is she another one of your girlfriends."

"No, of course not!" Buck retorted. Well technically it was not a lie. Inez was not and had  _never_  been his girlfriend and Millie had never asked him specifically whether or not Inez was his wife so by non-disclosure he was not lying. "Inez is a friend of mine and she’s working at the saloon today and her regular sitter is away so I’d look after her baby for her."

 _What are you doing_? Buck asked himself as the words tumbled from his lips, sinking him deeper and deeper into the mire of his own making. He had the perfect opportunity to tell the truth and instead he had lied and was continuing to lie.

"You’re such a sweetie, ain’t you darling." She beamed and touched Elena’s nose lightly. The little girl’s eyes batted open and she stared at the new face in question before looking up at her father and offering a little smile, since he was someone she recognised.

"Oh Buck, can I hold her?" Millie inquired. "Do you think your friend Inez will mind?"

Buck did not know what to say but decided it could not hurt so he merely nodded mutely in response. Once given leave to do so, Millie immediately scooped Elena out of her bassinette and cradled the baby in her arms. Elena not liking the unfamiliarity of the face before her started to squirm and wanted to be free of the stranger.

"She’s just a little shy." Millie started making cute faces at her which Buck knew was just going to annoy his little girl rather than pacify her. He started shifting slightly in his stance as he saw Elena starting to make those baby grumbles that indicated that she was not happy and about two steps away from howling. Elena glanced at Buck with those familiar eyes and seemed to implore her father to rescue her from the clutches of this stranger whom she did not like.

The sight of that tiny face begging him to take her with him was more than he could stand and before he knew what he was doing, he was stepping towards Millie. "Let me take her for a minute Millie," he said almost wrestling his daughter away from his old flame. "She’s a little testy around new people." He tried to explain as held Elena Rose in his arms the way he knew from experience she liked being held and immediately quelled any further murmurs of disquiet from her.

Millie was singularly impressed, not at all seeming offended mostly because she had a throng of relatives that included babies to know just how temperamental newborns could be if they did not feel comfortable. She saw Buck holding the child and felt her chest fill with warmth, pleasantly surprised with how good he was with children. One would not think it to look at him but Millie was always sure that Buck would be an excellent family man when he chose to settle down. "You’ll make a terrific father Buck."

Buck shrugged and smiled sheepishly. "So many women say that." He laughed nervously, wondering how he could make a quick getaway.

"You know," Millie noticed looking at Buck and the little baby. "She sort of looks like you."

"Really?" Buck swallowed thickly. "Imagine that?"

"Yes" Millie not considering it any further than just surface observation. "Especially in the eyes and I think she’s got your hair colour too."

"Well," he quickly thought of an explanation. "I did spend a lot of time in the saloon when her mother was carrying, you know they say that being close to a mother before her time can effect a baby."

Millie had not actually heard of the term but then Buck was not to bright and he did occasionally have some crazy notion about things. "Oh Buck," she chuckled as he made his excuses. "One would think that you had a family to hide or something. I mean I believe you and I think it’s awful nice of you to offer to help your friends with this little darling of a baby."

"Thank you." Buck responded. "I’ve got to take little Rose here to her sitter so if you don’t mind, I gotta be going." He said placing Elena back into her bassinette and gathering his belonging to make his escape once again, hoping that their next encounter would be any time soon.

"I understand." She said coming towards him and planting a kiss on his lips before he had a chance to shirk away from him. Her lips were as soft and enticing as he remembered and Buck found himself counting tables like he had not done since he was a little fella in school just so that he would not become lost in that kiss. "I know you got to protect the town and all, not to mention baby sit for this little angel."

"Yeah, you know me," he replied. "Busy as all hell."

"You should not talk like that in front of the baby," she said with a hint of disapproval.

"She’s too young to understand me." Buck cast his daughter a look and knew that Inez would say something similar if she were here. Of course, if Inez was here, he might as well kiss his ass goodbye if it were known what Millie’s intentions to him were all about. "I best be going." He said starting to withdraw.

"Well I’m gonna be in town all day so I’m sure I’ll run into you after you’re done babysitting." She threw him an enchanting smile that could melt a man’s resolve if he did not already have a spectacularly beautiful wife not to mention the loveliest child in creation staring up at him from her bassinette.

  
"I’m sure you will." Buck waved quickly before turning on his heels and hurrying away. He had not put very much distance between himself and Millie when he looked into the wicker basket and saw Elena staring at him with a frown on her face that could either mean two things; gas or the semblance of understanding that was beyond her ears.

"Now don’t look at me like that," Buck grumbled as he saw her bow shape mouth curved into the slightest hint of a pout. "I didn’t say you weren’t my little girl. I just didn’t admit to it."

Elena’s frown deepened.

"Come on Rose," Buck said dismayed by the disapproval on her little face. "You know that you and your mother are the most important things in my life, it’s just that things with Millie is real complicated. When you’re old enough and you’re chasing after a man of your own......" Buck’s thoughts faded away with that picture in his mind before he was forced to remark. "Nevermind that, when you’re old enough, there ain’t no way in heaven or earth am I’m letting you anywhere near someone like me."

* * *

Ezra Standish was very pleased with himself.

All in all, his day had not been quite the disaster he thought it would be when he had first been challenged by Billy Travis to play a game of ‘go fish’ for the hand of Julia Pemberton. Now that it was all said in done, Ezra felt that he had emerged the winner even though he had lost the game. Billy really did deserve to give Julia his prize and the lady had been so pleased at Ezra’s gracious cry of surrender that she had promised him all sorts of delight during their appointment this evening. In the meantime, he had a gift to return because he still intended to turn up at Julia’s home tonight bearing a birthday present of some kind. Even though Julia had indicated that his present to her this evening would most likely be in an exchange of service, Lord he loved how that woman phrased things, a gentlemen did not turn up at a lady’s door empty handed.

He was on his way to the Emporium to return the supposedly  _one of a kind_  pendant he had bought Julia with every intention of bringing it up with the sales clerk through which he made his purchase, when suddenly he saw Buck Wilmington skulking through the back streets,. The man was trying to make his way to the jailhouse without emerging into the main street while carrying his daughter in her bassinette.

The humour of the situation was not lost on the gambler.

Stifling the smile that threatened to steal across his features, Ezra stealthily fell into pursuit behind Buck and soon caught up with the man when he was a two or three alleyway from the jailhouse.

Ezra snuck up right behind Buck and exclaimed loudly. "Oh Buck!" He said in a singsong voice full of feminine overtones.

"Hell!" Buck nearly jumped two feet off the ground as he swung around and faced Ezra, fully expecting to see Millie instead of the well-dressed gambler. "What are you doing sneaking up on me like that!" Buck hissed at Ezra upon discovering that it was not Millie behind him. "You could get shot you know."

"Please Sir," Ezra pretended to drop to his knees and beg. "Have mercy on me. Don’t hurt me with your dangerous baby."

Buck could have shot him then.

"What do you want Ezra?" He growled as he started walking again.

"Hello there Miss Rose," Ezra tipped his hat at the little girl and noticed she had a wide, toothless smile for him when she saw his face. "Do you mind if I rescue her from that contraption since you have her swinging in like a sack of potatoes?" Ezra asked.

Buck paused and nodded. "Sure go ahead." He replied.

Ezra picked up the little girl and was rewarded with a giggle as he held her in his arms. For a hardened gambler, Ezra did not mind admitting he had a soft spot for children even though the ones who tried to steal the affections of his ladylove could some times erode even his sentimental core. Besides, he had this feeling that Elena Rose liked him because she never cried like she did when other people picked her up nor did she throw up as often she did (as Vin could personally attest) when he carried her.

"Now Miss Rose," Ezra asked as he held her in his arm. "Is your daddy still attempting to escape the clutches of the lovely Miss Millie?"

"I ain’t trying to escape." Buck protested and did not like the way his daughter responded to Ezra so readily. He liked it even less that the little girl was as affectionate towards the gambler as she was to her own father and that planted a suspicion in his head that Ezra would bear watching, especially when his Rose turned sixteen. "I’m just laying low and trying not to hurt her feelings."

"I see." Ezra replied sceptically, his attention still focussed on Elena who was touching his lips and pulling at it. "Am I to assume you have been dragging this little flower all over the country side in your attempts to ‘not hurt her feelings’ as it were?"

"I have not been dragging Elena anywhere." Buck said offended that Ezra could even suggest such a thing. "I’ve been babysitting." He retorted, full of dignity.

"Mr Wilmington," Ezra said a moment later after he replaced Elena in her bassinette once more. "Do you not think it might be simpler if you simply told Miss Millie the truth? That you are now a married person and that she did after all disappear from your life two years ago without any indication that she would be back. You were under no obligation to wait for her."

"I know that." Buck retorted, wishing everyone would stop reminding him of that fact. The truth was, he still felt much for Millie and he did not want to crush her hopes especially since she had harboured them for quite some time. "I’m working my way up to it. In the meantime, I’m going to stay in the jailhouse for the rest of the day so that she won’t find me."

"Oh please." Ezra rolled his eyes in disbelief. "Other than the saloon, that would be the second place she would look to find you."

"Well unfortunately, I’ve got to take Inez home in an hour or two so I can’t very well skedaddle it out of town can I?"

Ezra thought quickly and discovered that he had something of a solution to Buck’s problem even though he hated the idea and almost dismissed it as being unworkable. However, when he stared into that cherubic face in her bassinette appealing to him for help instead of being carted around town, caught helpless in her father’s attempts to escape his paramour, Ezra found his insides melting in capitulation. Never one to abandon a lady in a time of need, Ezra felt the words escaping his lips before he had even time to give it any deep thought.

"Here." Ezra reached into the folds of his coat and produced a set of keys.

Buck regarded the keys and remarked with a little bit of a wicked smile. "I’m sorry Ezra, I’ve told you before, I ain’t that easy."

Ezra gave him and look. "Even if I were inclined that way Mr Wilmington, I have better taste. I am offering you the use of my lodgings as a temporary sanctuary from Miss Millie. Perhaps the offer will incite you to take your daughter out of this heat since my room would be the last place anyone would go in search of you."

"That’s for sure." Buck said, not proud enough to refuse such a perfect solution. "Thanks Ez." He grinned at the gambler before adding with a little wink. "I’ll be waiting for you with only my wicked, wicked thoughts to keep me company."

"Just leave the keys at the bar when you and Miss Inez go home for the day and never, ever say that again." Ezra retorted shaking his head as he parted company from father and daughter, hoping that Buck’s genes were not hereditary or Elena Rose was going to be very disadvantaged in life.

* * *

After being unable to find Buck Wilmington anywhere, Millie decided to brave entering the Standish Tavern once again in order to find her former love. Although she had not minded entering the establishment earlier in the day, she was somewhat cautious about frequenting such a place at this time of the evening when the saloon would be full of drinkers and the rowdy types that frequented such a place. She wondered how she would wean Buck of such establishments when they were finally married. Although she had to admit, she had never known Buck to be as elusive as he had been during the last few hours. Every time she ran into him, he seemed to have somewhere to go and had to confess that she did not like how he spent so much time with babies that did not belong to him and not to mention the whole question of his friends. They did not seem at all like men who should be associated with good Christian folk.

Of course there was a time when Buck could hardly be considered as such himself but Millie decided that all he needed was a good woman to set him straight and that woman ought to be her.

Entering the saloon, she tried not to be too conspicuous as she moved through the space of saloon girls and drunken revellers, gambling and indulging in all kinds of sinful vices. It was no wonder papa was so affronted by the idea that she might love Buck. However, Millie could not help how she felt about him. As she made her way to the bar, she wondered what kind of woman this Inez was to be working in a place like this when she had a little baby to care for. While the reputation of the mother was in question, Millie could not deny that the little girl seemed very well looked after. She supposed the baby would be that way with good friends like Buck helping this Inez out.

She reached the counter and immediately saw a very beautiful, dark haired Mexican tending bar. The lady cast her glance at Millie’s direction before her brow furrowed in interest. Serving the customer before her a drink, she put down the glass and quickly came towards Millie.

"Can I help you?" She asked Millie.

"I’m looking for someone." Millie asked, trying to be heard over the sound of some loud drinkers in the background.

"I know most people around here," the lady said politely, able to see that Millie was very uncomfortable in the place and wanted out as soon as possible. "Maybe I can help you? Who are you looking for?"

"Buck Wilmington." Millie answered. "I understand he was babysitting for one of the saloon girls here."

The woman said nothing for a moment but her eyes narrowed. "Babysitting." She said coolly. "How do you know Buck, may I ask?" The lady inquired.

"Well I don’t see how its any of your....

"I’m his wife." Inez Recillos Wilmington said shortly.

Millie’s eyes widened. "His wife. Buck’s married?" She felt her heart sinking with dismay as she looked into this fabulously beautiful woman with the wild dark hair and sexuality oozing from every pore of her Latin frame. Suddenly, Millie was unsurprised that Buck would chose someone who looked like Inez. "How...when...?"

Suddenly Inez realised that the pain she saw in this young woman’s eyes was real and the anger she felt at the girl’s question began to diminish a little in the face of the shock. What on earth had Buck been up to? Despite her rising anger at her husband, Inez reminded herself to be calm and not jump to conclusions. Buck had been faithful to her ever since he had learnt about the baby and unless he was conducting the best performance of his life, Inez did not think he was being unfaithful now. However, the situation did warrant an explanation. Looking around, she gestured to one of the saloon girls to take her place behind the counter while Inez invited Millie into the kitchen for a private talk.

Once away from the crowd and Inez had settled the girl down in front of the kitchen table while preparing them both a cup of tea, she regarded Millie once more. "We’ve been married for almost five months. We have a daughter." Elena confessed.

"Why didn’t he tell me?" Millie said sadly. "It explains why he’s been avoiding me all day and why he almost jumped out his skin when I saw him with your baby."

Inez would like to know herself and as Millie explained it to her, Inez began to understand something of what had been happening and the fact that she had married a complete idiot. After a moment of reflection, Inez found it in herself to explain. "Millie, Buck Wilmington is the sweetest man you’d ever meet but you know that already."

Millie nodded.

"Unfortunately," Inez frowned. "Bright is not a word usually associated with him and trust me, we are going to make him pay for this but I think he did not want to hurt you by telling you the truth. Buck hates to see any woman hurt even though sometimes it is necessary."

"I would have understood," Millie replied after a moment, feeling immensely grateful at Inez that she had not taken Millie’s feelings the wrong way. Some women could be extremely territorial about their husbands, especially to old girlfriends. However, Inez was behaving with surprising tenderness and Millie could understand why Buck love her so. "I know it was too much to expect him to wait for almost years for me."

"Are you all right?" Inez asked gently.

"Yes I am," Millie said with a sad smile. "I’m hurting but its nothing I won’t get over and you have been so kind." She felt genuine gratitude towards Mrs Wilmington. "You also have an absolutely darling daughter."

"Gracias," the bartender said gratefully. "I just hopes she inherits her brains from  _my_  side of the family."

* * *

Buck Wilmington returned to the saloon at the appointed hour to retrieve his wife in order to make the journey back to their home with a proud smile on his face. Elena was fast asleep in her bassinette and Buck had spent two restful hours in Ezra’s room, safely hidden from the clutches of Miss Millie. After the day he had today, Buck was really looking forward to going home with his wife and daughter and not have to worry about the young woman for the next week since he did not intend on surfacing in town until then. He was certain that a week was more than enough for Millie to have learnt from someone in town that he was otherwise unavailable, thus sparing him the nightmare of telling her himself that he was now a married man with a wife and child.

_Coward._

His inner voice had been calling him that on numerous occasions today but Buck did not care. If being a coward meant he did not have face the ordeal of breaking Millie’s heart then slap some paint on his back and call him  _yella_  because that was how it was going to be. Better that than to see her crying because all that would do was weaken Buck’s resolve to stay away and who knew what could happen if he succumbed. He loved his wife and daughter too much to risk endangering their happy home by letting his attentions stray. Buck had made no idle promise when he had taken his wedding vows and no matter how tempting it might seem, he was not going to break them. Besides, he loved Inez too much and knew with complete conviction that if he were caught tom catting around on her, she would kill him.

His little Rose was enjoying her slumber quite peacefully and he felt somewhat guilty at the day he had put the child through. Unfortunately at five months of age, there was very little he could do to make it up to her since she had no teeth to speak of and preferred mashed carrots to candy or liquorice. Dresses meant nothing to her because she mostly threw up on them and for some reason, Elena did not like stuff toys. He remembered coming home with a stuffed bear and hearing her howl for hours until it was finally removed from her sight.

Such thoughts occupied Buck’s mind as he took the back entrance into the saloon. Even as he had been approaching the establishment, he could hear that it was a lively night in the Standish Tavern with music being played on the clunky old piano that was in severe need of tuning. Buck missed the action and the excitement that was no doubt taking place inside the saloon but was glad to know that he could indulge himself in it if he wished. Inez was not a strict taskmaster as some wives could be and she did not complain when he chose to indulge himself with libations in the company of his friends.

Elena did not stir at the noise, which was a firm indication of how tired she was when Buck finally entered the kitchen where Inez would no doubt be after taking care of the dinner preparations. It was her habit to do the cooking and leave it to Rain to serve to the clientele for the rest of the night. As always, the smells of her cuisine seem to eclipse the stench of smoke and liquor that reeked from the front floor of the saloon.

He had no sooner stepped inside when he stopped short in his tracks.

Millie was sitting at the table with Inez and both women were laughing out loud over a pot of tea. For a minute Buck thought that the reason for their amusement might be because they were both planning his horrible, horrible death when they noticed his presence and cast their gaze on him.

"Well hello darling." Inez said sweetly. "Look who I ran into?" She regarded Millie.

"Hello Buck." Millie said just as innocently. She had more than recovered her shock at his marriage but now was the time for a little bit of fun. At  _his_  expense of course.

"Millie...what.....what ...what are you doing here?" He stammered.

"I came looking for you and your wife was kind enough to offer me a cup of tea." The woman said with a look in her eyes that were perfectly predatory.

"Oh and we had a long talk." Inez added. "Didn’t we, Millie?"

"A long talk?" Buck swallowed thickly. "About what?"

Both women exchanged a look of pure evil before meeting his gaze once more. "About things." They said in unison. "In fact, Millie is going to come have supper with us tonight and we’re going to talk some more."

"Suffice to say Buck," Millie offered Inez a conspiratory wink. "I’m sure Inez and I will find a lot of things in common."

_Oh Hell._

Buck looked at his wife and his former girlfriend and had this awful feeling that his night was just beginning.

 


	6. Wild Oats

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NC17.

 

The rain came down shortly after they left town which made JD glad that the idea of a ride had been abandoned although they were going to get just as wet riding to the farm as they would on any outdoor excursion. Fortunately, it was a light summer shower and the rain against their skin felt quite refreshing as opposed to cold and uncomfortable. Casting his eyes on the grey clouds overhead, JD could tell that the weather was mild in comparison to the rest of the territory which was no doubt storming if the cumulous clouds in the sky were any indication of the weather.

Although they rode briskly towards Nettie’s farm, JD could feel the rain making its way through the fibres of his clothes and chilling his skin beneath. Casey’s hat was slouched over her face as it became saturated with water and JD wondered why she was so unusually quiet. Albeit the rain did not lend itself much to conversation but he still expected some kind of chatter from her. Casey rarely found it easy to be quiet and she was always going on about one thing or another. He wondered if she was still angry with him for taking to Jillian.

JD frowned, hoping the rest of his afternoon was not going to spent justifying how he was not interested in Jillian Carr when Casey should know better by now. Of course, he could not blame her for not trusting him to keep his eyes from wandering after the whole mess with the female bounty hunter called Maddie. JD had gotten involved with the woman after she and her sister had ridden into town supposedly searching for a bounty although the truth was far more sinister than any of them had envisioned.

Maddie had been a woman who knew what she wanted and when she wanted it. This included her sexual encounters and she had settled upon JD simply because she liked the look of him and for no other reason then that. Later on JD had realised that her choice of selecting him had been worth even less than he could have imagined. It could have been anyone who had walked into the saloon and caught her eye. Unfortunately, JD had been so nervous during the entire encounter that when he finally got around to resigning himself to the fact that their joining was one of simple lust and not much else, Casey had walked in on him and Maddie before they could get down to it.

Before that point, Casey and he hardly had what was called a sexual relationship. He had kissed her a couple of times but little else and JD understood that Casey was a proper young woman who was not prone to bandying about her attentions on just anyone. He appreciated that he had to earn the right to take such liberties with her and probably not even then. JD had the oddest feeling that the only way he was going to get to know Casey in the biblical way was after they were married. JD could not say he minded, after all Casey was a complicated girl and what she wanted was no different than most of the girls of her age.

In retrospect, he was glad that she had walked in on himself and Maddie, even though he felt like an absolute crumb for the next few days. He had never forgotten the expression in her eyes when she had seen them both and while he had not even got around to getting out of his long johns, JD felt inordinately guilty for betraying her. Especially with a woman who saw fit to shoot him in the stomach at first opportunity, simply because she was embarrassed that she might have cared about him.

"Casey." JD looked to her as they took the familiar turn off the main trail towards the Wells’ place. The rain had made the track towards the farm rather muddy so JD saw no need to push his horse any faster than need be. Besides, he liked looking at Casey with the rain against her skin and thought that she looked really pretty even though hair was plastered to her face and her cheeks were red from the cold. "There’s nothing going on between me and Jillian."

Casey blinked and turned to him, an expression of surprise on his face as if she had no idea what he was talking about. In truth, her thoughts were centred on the momentous decision she had made earlier today and she was still feeling butterflies in her stomach even though she had every intention of going through with it. She had been thinking of all the reasons that Aunt Nettie had said a proper young lady did not give herself to anyone until marriage. While she had never discussed the subject with Nettie because the old lady would have been horrified just to hear her talking like that, Casey found that Alexandra Styles were surprisingly frank with her.

Casey supposed that it was because Alex was a doctor that she did not mind discussing sex with Casey and much of what the young woman knew came from her talks with the doctor. Although Alex was never overly descriptive, she did explain a few fundamental truths and the fact that while keeping one’s virtue until marriage was a good thing, it was never possible to truly know a person until that final barrier had been breached. As Alex had put it, it was best to make such discoveries before wedding vows set a relationship in stone rather than after when it was too late to do anything about it.

"I know that." She replied, wondering why he would think that.

"Then what’s wrong?" He asked somewhat exasperated, wondering what secret annoyance she was keeping from him now and more importantly, what he had done to inspire it.

"Nothing is wrong JD." She looked at him with puzzlement.

Ahead of them, the track leading towards the farm was fast running out with the pave of rocks they had lined some part of the path to keep the ground solid appeared in the mud. She could see the faint outline of the farmhouse and the barn in the distance, surrounded by tall trees and golden fields that had been browned by the summer heat. The rain had turned it into a dull greyish sort of colour and Casey looked forward when the sun came out again because the place always looked better when everything was dried out.

"You ain’t said nothing since we started riding out from Four Corners." He pointed out.

"I’m sorry," she offered him a faint smile. "I was just thinking."

"Thinking?" He asked suspiciously. Casey’s random thoughts were far more dangerous than any foolishness that he might have done to anger her. There was something about women that allowed random thinking to ignite into an inferno of misconception. In Casey it was especially so. He hoped this time whatever random thought she had would not cause too much difficulty. He really did not have the energy for it. "What were you thinking about Casey?"

"Nothing." She said with a mysterious smile and all the more convinced JD that he had reason to fear. "It can wait until later." Casey answered and then decided to change the subject for a while. "So where was everyone today?" She asked instead.

JD was still staring at her, trying to decipher the reason for that smile and found that he could not. After a moment, he decided it was too much effort to try and unlock a secret from a woman especially if she did not wish to let it be known. In that way, Casey was typically female as Buck was found of saying. Women and secrets were like men and guns, the Lothario was known to brag on several occasions.

"Well Chris and Mary were going to Sweet Water," JD answered deciding to take the safe approach and just go along with her attempts at conversation until she stewed enough to let him know exactly what was on his mind. "Didn’t seem to happy about it from what Buck tells me."

"What do you mean?" Casey inquired, unable to imagine Chris and Mary ever unhappy about anything when they were together. If any couple were more suited for each other, it was the gunslinger and the editor of the Clarion News. At first sight, they did seem a very unlikely pair but on closer observation, it was not hard to see how much love there was between the two. Of course, that did not mean that they did not have spectacular arguments. Casey had been in the company of Mary enough to know that when the lady’s mind was set on something, there was nothing anyone could do to change it.

Not even one as formidable as Chris Larabee.

"Well Buck said that Mary was hollering at Chris about something when he met up with them on their way to Sweet Water. Buck didn’t want to stick around to find out what’s wrong." JD replied, understanding that sentiment all too well. He would not want to be anywhere in the nearby vicinity of either Chris or Mary if they were having an argument. Besides, it could cause unnecessary bloodshed. Namely his.

"Oh they’ll work it out," Casey remarked as they reached the farm. The place seemed unusually quiet despite the pitter patter of rain and JD guessed this was mostly because he was so accustomed to seeing Nettie on the porch or Casey doing chores around the place whenever he arrived. "When is Nettie due back?" JD asked, as he thought about the lady, painfully aware that Casey was out here alone because he worried about her faring all by herself so far from town.

Unfortunately Casey was too independent to stay in town and had insisted on remaining at the farm on her own and nothing JD was able to say could convince her otherwise. He knew that part of her decision had to do with her determination to prove not only to Nettie but everyone else the she could be left alone on her not own and that she was not a child that needed watching over. As the youngest member of seven men who often felt the need to protect him from the evils they faced on a daily basis, JD could understand that with perfect empathy as well.

"The day after tomorrow." Casey answered as they nudged their horses towards the barn in order to give both animals some shelter from the rain. Both animals were starting to breathe hard and it was obvious the weather was beginning to take its toll on them.

"You been okay on your own?" JD asked without sounding too condescending. If he did, Casey would react badly as she often did when her ability to look after herself was called into question. The entire purpose of remaining at home when Nettie had left was to prove to everyone including her aunt that she could take care of herself alone. However, JD’s question was not merely to inquire how she was handling the solitude. He knew how overwhelming it could be when one was accustomed to it and could not deny that even now, he had a great deal of difficulty being by himself. In the days before the seven had binding ties to Four Corners, JD had constantly worried about the group going their separate ways unable to comprehend the horror of loneliness again after experiencing the camaraderie of being in the fellowship.

JD had struggled with loneliness throughout most of his young life but had never known how truly empty and devastating it could be until shortly after his mother had died.

He had spent most of his life until that point living with her in their small house on the grounds of the fancy school in the East at which she worked. For as long as he could remember there had just been the two of them. The loneliness of that life had been made tolerable by the indulgence in his daydreams at the sufferance of his schooling and also by his mother. He never knew his father, not really, aware only that he had died when JD was too young to remember him. While his mother’s position at the school saw to it that he received the benefits of a good education, he always knew that he was not apart of the elite that paid for the privilege. The other students kept away from him, aware that he was not of their station and treated him as the outcast, the usurper in their midst they had to tolerate but never accept. JD was always treated as the help and his only friends back in those days were the horses whose care was his responsibility in his role as stable boy.

In this instance, Casey’s life was not too dissimilar from his own. As far as he knew, Nettie was the only family Casey had ever known. From what Casey had told him about her parents of whom she remembered almost nothing about them except that her mother had died too early. As was the case with many women who came out toe the West to fulfil their dreams, the reality was an existence too harsh to survive. While Nettie had thrived in the West, Casey’s mother had not and passed on soon after the husband who had died and left her alone. JD knew that nothing like that would ever happen to Casey because Casey made of the same steel that had forged Nettie thanks to the lady’s upbringing. Casey was made of sterner stuff than that and he knew that she could hold her own anywhere.

"There’s some firewood in the house." Casey remarked as they rode across the small homestead that made up the Wells’ property. "We can warm up in there." She suggested they continued up the track towards the barn.

Upon seeing shelter ahead, the horses, familiar with terrain, immediately trotted forward quickly, eager to escape the rain and the cold. JD had to admit that he would not mind getting dry himself as the chill of the rain had seeped through his clothes and he could feel in it his bones. JD suddenly found himself longing for a hot cup of coffee and reminded himself to make the suggestion to Casey once they were inside the house.

The barn smelled of wet hair and animal spores but it was dry and a fraction warmer once they were inside its confines. He rubbed the flank of his mount and felt the coolness of the animal and knew that it would require at least a few hours of rest before forcing it into this weather again. Although his horse had been through much worse, JD did not like to make the animal suffer any more than it had too. It was still afternoon even though the sky was dark outside due to the thickening of the rain soaked clouds that kept the sunlight from breaking through its dense covering.

"Hey Casey," he asked when he dismounted the saddle and a thought occurred to him suddenly. "Is it okay that I’m with you alone in the house? Nettie wouldn’t think we’re getting up to any funny business, would she?" He knew Nettie was extremely protective of Casey’s virtue and JD would hate for the lady to think he was anything but a gentleman when left alone with her niece.

Casey gave him that look once again. The wistful one he did not understand and only left him wondering what was behind her eyes when she stared at him that way. Her expression was unfathomable and at that moment, she did not look like Casey the girl but rather like Casey the woman. For a moment, he was captured by the mystery she exuded until it was almost something palpable that was tangible to the touch. JD could not decipher that enigmatic expression on her face and noted a few seconds had passed before she answered.

"Of course not silly." She replied shaking her head as if he had said something inordinately absurd and further convinced JD that she was hiding something from him, although he could not fathom what that could be in the slightest. Once again, he was reminded of what Buck had said about women and their secrets and decided it would take a better man than him to unlock them.

"Casey, is there something you ain’t telling me?" He asked after they had finished tending to the horses, providing the animals with an adequate amount of feed and hay to warm themselves after being in the rain.

Once they were stabled and comfortable, Casey started towards the barn door. She had yet to answer his question and appeared as if was contemplating her answer, making him question what it was there was to consider. Normally, if she had something on her mind, Casey just came out and told him. Sometimes even when he did not wish to know. He felt into stride with her, staring in expectation of her answer until finally Casey came to the conclusion that he would not relent until she answered him.

"JD," Casey let out a weary, wishing he would desist with the questions until she was ready to show him what had occupied her thoughts during their journey back to the farm. If he could just wait a little, there would be no need for questions. After all, she was nervous enough about this as it was and knew that if she delayed any longer, she might start to reconsider her decision and Casey did not want to do that. She loved him and she wanted to show him that she loved him in the most purest expression of her love that she could imagine.

Besides Casey did not want to delay any longer.

Aside from the timing being perfect since Nettie would be away for at least two more days ensuring their complete privacy and keeping JD from being killed if the lady found them, Casey wanted their coupling to take place in familiar surroundings. Casey wanted to love him in the bed she had shared so many of her dreams about him. Besides, as Ezra Standish would not doubt reply if faced with the same situation, Casey had no wish for her first experience in love making to occur in any place as undignified as a livery stable.

"Everything is fine, will you quit your worrying?" She cried in exasperation as she emerged into the rain and started running towards the house, leaving him behind.

JD rolled his eyes in similar frustration and decided to give up arguing because it was obvious; she was not going to tell him anything until she was good and ready to.

Whatever it was.

* * *

 

A short time later, JD found himself seated in front of Nettie’s fireplace, enjoying the delicious heat against his skin and warming up after being in the rain. Although he would have preferred a bath, he knew he would just have to wait until he got back into town for that. Unfortunately, he was not about to risk getting killed by having one here should Nettie return home unexpectedly. Still, toasting himself before the cackling fire was more than enough compensation for the lack of a bath at the moment.

His fingers were wrapped around a steaming cup of black coffee that Casey had made for him once they had entered the house and JD took a deep breath of the aromatic beverage, allowing it to fill his senses. Instinctively, the awakening of his senses to coffee had also made him long for something to eat and he wondered if Casey would not mind if he helped himself to a quick bite to eat. Good manner made him wait until she had emerged from her room where she was no doubt engaging in a change of clothing.

His own were still fairly damp although removing them and drying them before the fire was out of the question. JD had to be satisfied with pulling off his coat and leaving it to hang on a chair facing the fire so that it would hasten the drying process. He did not mind it since he was perfectly aware that it was not at all proper for him to disrobe when he was alone with Casey in Nettie’s house. However, the likelihood of Casey allowing him to take any liberties with her were so astronomical that JD was rather sceptical at why he was being so cautious in the first place. Nevertheless, he contented himself with sitting before the open flames, knowing that the cackling fire would do the job soon enough.

He looked around and wondered why Casey was taking so long and realised that she was still in her room. He could not imagine what could be taking her so long because when it came to clothing, Casey did not indulge in wearing layers upon layers of clothing being most comfortable in pants and a shirt most of the time. He appreciate that her dress sense was borne out of her need to be comfortable since much of the chores she undertook around the property should have been for a man to do not a young girl like herself.

However, JD could not deny that she had been acting strangely today.

Her behaviour today had been peculiar enough without adding a mysterious disappearance to it as well. JD was starting to worry that something was seriously wrong because Casey was not normally this puzzling in her mannerism. Sure she had the ineffable quality to drive him absolutely insane with her reasoning at times but for most part she was not flighty like most girls. If there was one thing that JD could count on with Casey, it was that she was not as insipid or uninteresting as some of the other young women her age in Four Corners.

Case in point, Jillian Carr.

Jillian with all her fancy trimmings that really hid the fact that she was no personality and it did not say much for a young lady that needed so much decoration to be attract the opposite sex. Casey who hardly exerted her sexuality was far more capable of making JD aware of her sexuality then Jillian could ever dream of doing in a hundred years. Therefore it was always a mystery to JD that Casey could find such a vacuous specimen like that competition for his affections when in truth, Jillian could never hold a candle to his Casey as far as JD was concerned. 

Tired of waiting and speculating at what her intentions might, JD rose to his feet and walked to her bedroom door, pausing at the doorway before tapping lighting against the wood and calling out. "Is everything alright in there?" He asked.

Despite himself, JD felt slightly uncomfortable about being alone in the house with Casey like this. If Nettie came home suddenly, the youth was certain the lady would not view his presence here favourably and Nettie’s wrath was not something he wanted to inspire. When Nettie Wells made her will known, even Chris Larabee was known to take a step back in caution and  _nothing_  ever spooked Chris. Besides, he felt ridiculous standing at her door like this. Why couldn’t she just answer him and let him know what the hell was going on?

 _If Buck were here, he’d make her tell him._ JD grumbled.

"JD," Casey’s voice suddenly responded and almost startled him by appearing out of nowhere so suddenly. "Can you come in here a moment?" Her voice was calm and devoid of any emotion that could tell him what would precipitate such an invitation.

JD had not been in her room before and a part of him was curious to see the place where she slept and dreamed her dreams. Reaching for the doorknob instinctively, he was about to push his way inside when he considered if this was the proper thing to do. It was bad enough being here without Nettie let alone entering the forbidden bastion that was Casey’s bedroom. After a second, JD told himself that he was being foolish. Casey probably wanted his help with something and most likely a perfectly innocent reason for inviting into her room which could be easily explained in the event that Nettie came home unexpectedly.

Pushing the door open, he step inside the doorway like a man about to take a step into some mysterious place around which legends and myths revolved. Perhaps he was even stepping through the looking glass, he thought absurdly and wondered how there could be so much mystique about a place. Upon entering, he soon realised that it was not the doorway into Shangri-la or Xanadu but just another room, like any other in this newly built house.

The inside of Casey’s room was slightly dim because the floral curtains were pulled back, keeping what natural light there was out. Still, there was enough illumination for him to make good observations as he took his first step in. It was very much a girl’s room with flowers in a vase sitting on top of the night stand as well as an ornate basin and pitcher for washing. He could see pretty things hanging on the walls and the scent of rose water lingered in the room, pulling him deeper like an invisible chord with its enchanting fragrance. It was just how he had imagined her room to be and knew that despite the fact that she had only modest means to make it homely, she had nonetheless made this room very much her own. It was such a far cry from the practical young woman he knew JD had to admit to a certain amount of surprise seeing how feminine the decor really was.

At first, he could not see Casey and his eyes searched the small confines of the room, furnished by a bed, a night stand and a bureau where her clothes were kept. He noticed the scarf he had bought her for Christmas hanging over the dressing table mirror and her hat her was drying on the chair sitting under the window. It was another full second before he realised just where she was and when he did, he could only react by allowing his jaw go slack with astonishment.

Casey was in bed and she was naked.

For a minute JD thought he had walked in on one of his midnight fantasies but through the window outside, he knew that it was still daylight so this was no dream. Her clothes were hanging neatly on the edge of the bed and he knew she was naked because he could see the outline of her body through the covers. The sheets had fallen into a very tantalising representation of her figure with every curve accentuated until he could hardly breathe.

"Casey what are you doing?" He asked cautiously, trying to keep his eyes averted even though his was fighting the urge not to look at the promise of what lay beneath those covers. His body was starting to react and JD knew that if he was not careful, he was going to embarrass himself in front of her although at the moment that seemed incidental when she was waiting for him in bed naked.

"I want to be with you, JD." Casey said shyly, trying not to let her cheeks burn crimson as she waited in anticipation for him to do something because she had not the faintest idea how to begin. Whether or not he could tell, she was shaking slightly because she was scared and the expression on his face was unfathomable so she did not know whether she had done the right thing or not.

 _Oh God_. JD felt his insides melt as he heard her say that. He felt himself hardening just at the thought of lying with her in those sheets, feeling the smoothness of her skin, still cool from being caught in the rain, next to his. "I want to be with you too Casey...." He stammered, not trusting himself to speak because his physical urges were starting to overtake him. "But why now."

"Why not?" She asked pulling the cover slightly apart so that he could get a better look at her and hoping that the sight of her bare skin would make his own hesitations disappear. "We’ve waited long enough and I love you."

"I love you too." JD stuttered as he saw what lay beneath the fabric of her sheet. While he did not see all of her body, he did see the curve of her hip and a perfect length of leg, beginning from the supple thigh right down to her toes. His eyes could not move away from the sight of her naked flesh and he swallowed thickly as he felt a churning in his gut and the all too familiar pull in his loins that signalled the beginning of his erection. After what he had seen and what she was proposing, he could do nothing but be swept away by the anticipation of their possibly coupling.

"Are you sure?" He asked after a moment, his heart pounding so loudly in his chest that he was rather surprised that she could not hear it.

"Yes," she smiled at him and sat up in the bed, the cover falling from her chest and revealing her bare torso.

If there was any resistance it him at whether or not this was the right thing to do, it more or less crumbled when he caught sight of her breasts exposed to him. The air was relatively cool inside the room and the slight chill made her react as the rosebud colour skin of her nipples contracted and stood erect. He envisioned what it would to touch them and immediately felt a surge of intense feeling rushing to his cock. His jaw dropped for an instant as he saw her waiting for him to touch her and knew that if he did not he would spend the rest of his life regretting it.

Taking a step forward, he could not move his eyes from that naked torso and he managed to whisper as he started undressing to join her. "You’re so beautiful Casey." He whispered, feeling the bulge in his pants pressing hard against the fabric until he needed to be free of it.

Casey noted his erection as he drew closer and smiled with pleasure as she saw his fingers trembling as he pulled off his coat and started unbuttoning his vest. It was nice to know that this was going to be as unnerving to him as it was to her. When he was close enough to touch, she reached out in fascination, allowing her hand to mould over the ridge of flesh pushing against his pants. JD reacted immediately upon feeling her palms against his hard length. He shuddered visibly, lost for a moment in the sensation until his hands forgot what they were doing and clenched into fists.

"Oh god." He moaned and looked down at her with a glassy stare.

"Are you okay?" She asked, fearful for a moment that she had done something wrong.

"Yeah," he replied hoarsely. "Let me get undressed first." He said taking a deep breath in order to control himself because the feeling of her hand on him, even through fabric, felt like nothing he had ever imagined.

"Okay," Casey nodded, deciding that she would have to explore that part of his anatomy later when he was more able to cope with her touch. He certainly looked as if he had liked it when she touched him and she was not so ignorant that she did not know what it meant when a man became rigid like that. At least Casey was assured that she had engendered enough of a reaction to understand that he wanted her.

  
JD undressed in front of her trying not to be subconscious about being naked but decided that since she had braved it enough to do it for him; he could not very well be otherwise. He stripped down to his long johns, aware that she was watching the removal of his clothes, transfixed by what he looked like bare. JD was still in something of a state of shock about all this and eventually started to peel them off his shoulders before stepping out of them completely. She had always been very proper about her conduct with him and although they had been together for some time now, their relationship had not progressed beyond a few heated kisses after their outings together. He had certainly not taken her to the livery stable like he had done with Maddie, not that it had turned out well and now as he stood poised to join with Casey, he was glad he had not wasted his virginity on Maddie when Casey was worth waiting for.

When he finally stepped out his long johns, he noticed Casey studying him closely, her eyes moving over every inch of his skin, pausing at his length in curiosity because she had never until this moment seen a man completely in the nude. He hoped he was not too much of a disappointment and then asked himself when she would have had no other basis for comparison. His cock was fully sprung to life now and JD could see that Casey was watching it mesmerised and he guessed that she wanted to touch it again and JD knew he wanted to let her. Moving towards the bed, he saw her slip deeper into the sheets as she made a space for him.

"Casey," JD said as he climbed in and had to pause a moment when he felt the delicious heat of her bare skin next to him as he rolled on his side to face her. "Are you sure about this?" He asked nervously.

"Yes," she nodded with a smile. "I want to be with you JD. I want you to be my first."

JD swallowed, feeling his heart swell with affection at what she was offering and realising at that moment that she believed that he had been with a woman before. Of course, considering how she had walked in on him and Maddie, there was no reason for her to believe otherwise.

"Casey." He looked at her. "I haven’t been with anyone else either." He admitted. This was a special moment and it was way too special for him to be lying to her. She was offering him something of herself that was a once in a lifetime experience and JD wanted her to know just how much it meant to him that she was his first as well.

Her eyes widened in surprise. "But I thought when you with ....."

"No." He shook his head quickly. "I never did anything with her."

Casey met his eyes and started to smile. "I’m glad." She whispered. "It makes this more special."

"It does." He nodded and leaned over, meeting her mouth in a gentle kiss.

He kissed her tenderly at first, even though he was throbbing hard with each taste of her lips against his. Casey was closing her eyes, parting her mouth gently as he continued to kiss her and JD was awash with sensation at how sweet she felt. His head started to swim as his tongue slipped past her teeth and started stroking the deep recesses of her mouth as well as savouring the feel of her tongue as she nervously began to explore him just as deeply. Instinctively, he reached for her face and stroked her hair and cheek tenderly as they continued to kiss because anything more was still too new.

JD could not believe how wonderful she felt as he rolled on top of her. All his senses were being bombarded by the stimulating sensations of her scent in his lungs, of her skin against him and the softness of her full lips growing bolder as their passion started to heighten beyond discovery into the taut singularity of need. He could feel her breasts pressed against his and he continued to kiss her and knew his erect length was pressing into her thigh. Her hands were moving over his back, rolling languidly across muscle and feeling the firmness of his flesh under her palms. He felt her shudder slightly at the feel of him, it moved through her body her like a wave and through her kisses, he heard a sharp intake of breath.

"Oh Casey." He swallowed as he came up for air. "You’re so beautiful." He whispered and saw her smile radiantly before she pulled him to her again because the pleasure of his kisses was more than she could stand to have away from her at this moment. She was aware that she stood on the periphery of something but could not imagine what that might be except for this tugging inside her that would not abated. She could feel him pressing hard against her leg and knew that they had both crossed a point of no return.

JD tried to remember all the talk that he had listened in when Buck and the others talked about women. Buck was naturally the most vocal and JD had to shift through all the advice given and cast out what was mostly bluster in order to secure the knowledge that was actually useful. Buck always said that it was always best when the woman felt good too and Ezra seemed to agree even though he never went into more detail than that. Vin and Chris did not talk about women at all except to joke about some of the ladies they had known in the past but like Ezra did not specify the more fundamental aspects of it. Josiah’s knowledge of the opposite sex was not focussed on the bedding but the courting while Nathan’s attitude was to take things slow. What would happen would happen.

He knew that Casey expected him to take the lead assuming that he had more experience than she did in these things but all JD knew how to do was to take it slow as Nathan had advised. He told himself to remember that she was here too and that Casey had needs just as demanding as his. She had given herself to him on nothing less than a leap of faith and JD had no intention of betraying that trust. Gazing into her eyes and he saw the love she had for him. JD knew he wanted this to be something they could remember for the rest of their lives, a memory they would share even when they were old and grey because he knew that he loved her too.

Lowering his head, his lips parted and captured the soft skin of her neck, awkwardly moving up and down the creamy flesh as he began exploring her, trying to find the secret places Buck had told him about where women could be pleasured. Purely on whim, he tried to tease the tender skin as he had kissed her, darting his tongue out far enough make contact when he heard her breath in deeply and one of her hands left his back and started raking through his dark hair. It took a few seconds to realise that she liked what he was doing and so he continued, raining soft kisses down her shoulder, moving across her neck and collar bone all the while stealing the nerve to cup the small mound of her breast.

His palm burned like fire when he felt the hard nub of a nipple under his skin and instinctively squeezed gently. Casey wriggled underneath him, feeling the previously forbidden pleasure now taking complete control of her body as JD started squeezing harder, until the breath was forced from her lungs with each tentative compression of his fingers. The sensation started to burn like wildfire, making her moan softly in his ears, even before she was aware that the sound had left her lips. She placed her hand over his, inciting him to continue even though he had no intention of stopping in the slightest now that he had made this discovery.

JD was throbbing so hard that he was almost panting with the need to find release immediately but hearing her gasp in his ears was so arousing, he knew he just had to hang on a little longer because he wanted her to experience it with him. Inspired by the response he had garnered by touching her breast, JD wondered how sensitive they really were to touch and began directing his kisses lower. She reacted to the touch of his lips with every inch of his journey and when he happened to glance upwards, noted that her eyes were closed shut and her lips were quivering with sensation.

Her nipple was like a rosebud, pulled tight into a single nub of crinkly skin, the way it would be if she were cold. The tip jutted into a small plateau. When JD brought his mouth to it and allowed a breath of hot air to pass over it, he felt her react most acutely when her back arched slightly and her legs parted so that he could feel his cock sliding neatly between them near the heated core of her. The sensation endured when the head of his manhood caressed the tender skin of her inner thighs almost made him come undone and he had to fight like hell to rein in the urges that were threatening to overpower him.

When he finally reined in his rampant desires, JD flicked his tongue experimentally over that point of contracted flesh. What he received in turn was a languid moan, like something had been awakened inside of her with that one action. Her back lifted of the bed enough to push her hot body against him while her hand in his hair pushed his head down again, wanting him desperately to repeat what he had just done.

"JD....." She pleaded. "Don’t stop."

Encouraged by her reaction, JD became bolder and sucked deeper, eliciting another cry of pleasure upon doing so. He let his tongue fully explore the tiny nod of skin in his mouth, swirling around it and gently nipping it with his teeth, testing the boundaries of what he could do to make that soft moan escape her again. His cock was hardening by the second with each pleasure gasp that sneaked past her lips until his entire body trembled in anticipation of release.

His hand cupped her other breast while his mouth did its worst and JD felt extremely satisfied that he was able to deliver some measure of pleasure to her because he had been afraid of disappointing her, especially since it was the first time for both of them. Buck’s words had haunted him that a joining like this should be enjoyable for both, not just him. Kneading the flesh in his palm gently, he felt her fingers rake through his hair and could not deny that he liked how it felt immensely.

Leaving her breast, he moved his hand downward, feeling his curiosity about the female anatomy reach bursting point because he had to know more before they proceeded to the next step, whatever that was. He wanted to be with her desperately. His entire body was aching for it. Just watching her heave in sensation as he continued to nurse on her was enough to shatter his control and he was very close to climax but JD refused to let himself give in until he was sure that she was ready for it. He was not entirely ignorant and knew that the first time for women was supposed to be painful, at least that was what Buck said and it was a man’s responsibility to lessen that pain as much as possible.

  
JD did not want to hurt Casey and as his hands snaked down the smooth skin, relishing in the curves that were so often hidden beneath loose fitting clothes, he wondered why she was not tempted to display that lovely figure more often. Finally, he arrived at the crinkly mound of hair and lingered for a moment as he experienced the texture under his fingertips, running his own digits through it as he she was doing to him. Casey seemed to breath harder when he reached that point and paused suddenly as if she had not expected him down there.

"Casey?" JD stopped what he was doing and looked up at her when he felt her stiffen suddenly. "Is everything alright?" He asked anxiously, praying that she had not changed her mind because he had done something wrong.

"Yes," she nodded after a minute but the apprehension in her eyes showed. She was had counted on him knowing what to do when she had made this decision but JD’s revelation that he had never been with a woman before, though wonderful, had given her cause for concern. She wanted to be with him but she was also afraid because they were both in uncharted waters with no guide except the experimentation that they had been doing to aid them in their sexual awakening.

"I won’t hurt you Casey." JD said softly, aware of the fear in her eyes and wanting to assuage them because he would just die with need if she chose not to continue. Of course, he was a gentlemen and he had no intention of forcing himself upon her if she did not wish to go through with this, no matter how uncomfortable he might become. "I promise."

"I know," she smiled, believing him when he said it. Slowly, her hand dropped away from his hair and gently urged his hand to continue what it was doing.

JD returned her smile and lowered his lips once more to capture her nipple, wanting to engender the same pleasure within her as he made this latest incursion into unknown territory. She was breathing hard but it was part pleasure and part fear as his fingers moved to her lower regions. JD noticed he could smell her very acutely now and it was not just the perfume that always seem to linger on her body after she had spent the day in the sun doing chores around the farm. It was something else, something not bottled but overpowering, like heat and sweat all rolled into one and whatever it was, he took a deep breath and savoured it in his lungs like an elixir that stoked the fire burning inside his groin.

The first thing that he noticed when he finally began probing at the folds of her sex was the slick moisture at the small opening. He knew from personal experience that men were able to produce lubrication of their own when they were pleasuring themselves. He guessed it was the same for women as well but had no idea how similar it would be. He used the dampness to probe further into her, letting his fingers explore every crevice and every fold with fascination until his finger brushed over a nod of flesh and he received the surprise of his life as well as giving Casey one herself.

"Oh god JD!" She groaned and she bucked underneath him, her hands flying to his hair and back. Suddenly the gentle caresses disappeared and was replaced by fervent kneading of flesh as her fingers raked across the hard muscle of his back.

JD considered what he had discovered briefly before repeating the action to see if the same reaction would be engendered. Just as before, the moan escaped Casey with careless abandon and the surge of moisture that flooded her passageway almost tore the sense from his world as he felt his finger dampen with her juices. He realised that this was the place that he had needed to find, the one that would give her the same kind of pleasure that she had given him when Casey had placed his hands on his throbbing cock.

Deciding to take advantage of what he now knew, he continued to concentrate his digital manipulations on that one area, swirling, caressing and kneading with his fingers tips until Casey was writhing beneath him with nothing less than ecstasy. Her hands had left his back and were now knotted around the sheets. Her legs were wrapped around his thighs, with one foot gently stroking the back of his calf in complete submission to the pleasure he was affording her. When he pressed the inside of the moist passageway and felt the walls of muscle contracting around his finger, he almost came there and then and told himself that he had to hang on.

"JD," she whispered almost incoherently. "That’s so wonderful." She panted. "Oh god, that’s so good!"

She could think of no other way to describe it because it was not what she had expected. In truth, Casey had not known what would happen when she finally decided to give herself to JD but she had to admit she was pleasantly surprised by everything that was happening so far. While JD was just as new to her as this was, she could see that he was taking great pains to ensure that she enjoyed the experience as much as he and if nothing else, this convinced Casey she had made the right decision.

JD continued stroking that pearl of flesh, relishing each pleasured groan as it escaped her lips until she was riding his hand in order to experience as much as the ecstasy he was delivering to her in searing waves of erotic sensation. Her hips were thrusting gently toward him, moving in rhythm with his hand. JD had to breathe in deeply to control the almost painful ache building up in his cock as he felt her heart pounding against his when as he rested his head on her breast and continued their fevered dance.

Suddenly, he felt her tense underneath him and a shudder overcame her that JD knew all too well from too many experiences doubled over in his bed, groaning into his pillow so he would not be heard when the pleasure of his own hand allowed him to reach climax. She arched against him as her arms wrapped themselves around his back and her nails dug into the skin. The pain was strangely arousing and JD watched the pleasure overcome her face as her cheeks flushed with colour and her lips trembled as the full vent of her orgasm rushed over her body and swept her away. A gush of moisture flooded the narrow passage and emersed his finger in warmth. JD revelled in the feeling knowing that it was he who had made her feel this way.

JD pulled himself further up her body, capturing her mouth with his and reached instinctively for her leg and hooked it over his thigh. She was still recovering from the sensation of her climax and made no protest, aiding him somewhat when she positioned herself so that they could finally complete their joining. Her fingers traced slow circles over his back once she had relaxed and she gently whispered into his ear.

"Now JD." She said softly, her voice a little shaky still but definite in its intention. "Do it now."

JD needed no more encouragement because he could not wait any longer. Seeing her climax was the most erotic thing he had ever seen in his young life. He loved the way her eyes had clamped shut and her lips had puckered into an ‘o’ of pure sensation as it rushed over her. The sight of that glassy stare and that beatific expression on her face as it melted into satisfaction was something he would carry with him until the day he died. At that instant, JD had understood better than ever what Nathan had meant when the healer had said the experience was so much better with someone you loved.

Positioning himself over her quivering sex, he gently nudged his way through the heated passage his finger had taken earlier, much to the envy of his hungry cock. As the head of the swollen member penetrated the tight ring of flesh, JD thought he might just die from how it felt. The pressure against his glans, awakened every nerve inside his body until he could do nothing except groan out loud in order to keep himself from forcing all the way up her.

"Casey……" JD was almost incoherent. "Oh Jesus, Casey!"

He could not breathe. The pleasure of it! Oh dear god, the pleasure of it! It was nothing like what he imagined, not even in his wildest fantasies and he had only just slipped a little of himself inside her, to say nothing of his full length. However, despite the incredible ecstasy of her body, he still remembered he was not alone. In a raspy voice, he asked. "Is it okay, Casey?" He could hardly keep himself from shuddering as he spoke, the sensation chipping away at his composure so relentlessly that his jaw was taut with agonising attempts at control.

"Yes." She nodded. It did not hurt yet but then she was not sure it would as much since he had made her experience that incredible rush of sensation that pulled the bones from her body until she was nothing but fluidic motion wishing for him to experience the same enjoyment. She loved him so much seeing the strain of his jaw and the look in his eyes as he tried to control his entry so as not to hurt her. As if to give him permission, her palms circled his rear and pushed him towards her gently.

He continued to push, relishing each centimetre of the journey towards the core of her. She was so tight inside and while he had no basis of comparison, he had never imagined that the lack of space could produce such incredible sensation. The walls of her inner muscles clenched around him, stroking his heavy shaft as he nudged deeper and deeper into her until he could hear her starting to call her name in his ear. The feel of her breath against his skin compelled him to move faster into her when suddenly, he came against a barrier of skin.

His first instinct was to pull back when suddenly he felt Casey’s hands pulling him against that inner obstruction. She stiffened under him as he did so but the sensation of her moist passage clamping down around him drove any further thought from his mind.  _Oh Christ_ , JD thought to himself. He was never going to make it to the end and he knew he just had to. He did not want to disappoint her and yet the pleasure was beyond belief. She as so damn tight! He wanted to scream that in loud ragged sobs as his cock hardened at the overload of stimulation until it was very near explosion.

 _This must be it_ , Casey thought as she felt him fill her and the pain that had seared through her as he breached her maiden head. She felt it burning inside of her and was almost tempted to push him away but knew she could not do that because he was too far along to stop. He had tried so hard not to hurt her and the pain was fading away somewhat so Casey knew she could bear it. The next time it won’t be so bad she told herself and she knew that there would be a next time because JD had made this experience so wonderful she could deny him nothing ever again.

JD reached the end of the passageway and knew that he could go no further because he was buried to the hilt inside Casey. Her fingers were raking at his back and he was aware that something had happened during the course of joining because she had stiffened enough for him to notice. He wanted to ask her but was too afraid to spoil the moment with words and the most coherent thought in his mind at the moment was this need to start thrusting into her.

He pulled back and started to pump, taking note that with the slick wet that was some stickiness as well that felt different from the other. However, sensation soon drove that observation from his mind as he started moving his hips and began thrusting into her warmth with long steady strokes. JD was realistic that he could not last for very long. This was his first time inside a woman and the anticipation that had led to this moment had almost shattered his resolve a thousand times over before he had even penetrated the sweetness of her body.

"Oh Casey!" He groaned as he thrusted into her, each stroke was pure bliss and his body was absolutely wracked with it. His eyes clamped shut as he continued pumping into her, his body performing an ancient rhythm that had been buried inside him all his life waiting for its time. All he could see before him was this heaving veil of colour, reaching epiphany with every stroke until he was knew nothing else.

Casey watched him in fascination as well as arousal. He was pushing fast and furious, beads of sweat running down his muscled arms and chest. His face was contracted into a knot of pleasure and he was panting, gasping, trying to keep control. She could see the muscles flex in the line of his jaw and the chords of sinew pulled tight in his neck as his head was thrown back in animalistic lust. She watched his skin glisten under the light and the musk of him filled the room and was almost as intoxicating as watching the pleasure on his face.

Casey felt as if she had come down from a high place and was still basking in the warmth of that descent. While she felt none of the frenzied ecstasy of his earlier ministrations, there was pleasure in this too. The fullness inside her was very satisfying and even though she still ached a little from the loss of her maiden head, she was revelling in the sight of watching him pound into her. She thrilled in his vocal expressions and how he reaching the same heights he had sent her earlier.

He was beautiful.

Casey had never understood how that could be applied to a man until this point but she knew it was an accurate description. Everything about how he looked to her now, helpless to his needs, his lips quivering and his skin flushed gave her a sense of the real JD she had never seen before. She wondered if it was this moment that finally stripped away all the pretext and words between a man and a woman and finally lay them open to each other, unable to hide nothing. Casey saw him for what he was just then, not the youngest member of the seven, not the sheriff of Four Corners or even the man she loved but rather as a boy not unlike the girl she was, trying to find his place in the world.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes and looked at her. In the split second of time that it took for their eyes to meet, Casey saw that he was finally there. His body tensed and a long, guttural moan of pleasure escaped his throat as she felt the warmth of him filling inside of her. The sensation was like nothing she had ever experienced. It seemed to rush up within her, staking claim to her body as it warmed her insides with seed.

_Oh god. Oh god. Oh god._

That was the only thing that JD could make sense of in his mind when he finally let himself go. A rainbow of colour exploded before him, blinding him to everything but the pleasure that gripped his body in a tight knot and refused to let him go. The control he had tried so hard to master snapped, like the ropes holding the mast of a ship together and the resulting chaos that followed was no less turbulent as the relief flooded his body and he spurted his seed deep inside her.

JD continued to pump, climaxing harder than he had ever done so in his life although he measured those experiences with the lonely episodes in bed where a day of pent up sexual frustration found release in his hand. JD had to say that this was so much better. His head swam as the strength drained out of him and he found himself unable to remain on his elbows any more and had to lower himself onto her. Resting his head against her breast, JD swallowed hard as he caught his breath to speak.

"Casey, that was something." He raised his head long enough to kiss her on the lips. He felt like the bones in his body were no more and he could not move. All he wanted to do was to lie against her forever and hear her heart beating against him. He had never imagined for one moment that it could be so incredible. Buck’s description did the act no justice and yet it was Josiah’s words that seemed to echo more in his ears than anything else. Josiah said that it was a symphony of souls and at the moment JD could not disagree with him more. It was like a song was playing in his ears and even though it was now over, he could hear the lilt of it humming through his soul.

"Thank you JD," she smiled happily as she brushed a strand of hair away from wet brow. She knew she was bleeding a little but the pain of the moment hardly registered when she saw how satisfied and affectionate he was following his release.

"Thank you?" He looked at her perplexed. Thank him? She was thanking him for making him experience the most mind numbing pleasure of his life? JD had to admit confusion to that and managed to exclaim. "What for?"

"For making it so wonderful." Casey said wistfully, that smile on her face again.

"You made it wonderful, Casey." JD pointed out and felt that to be the honest truth. "I was just here."

"No," she shook her head, disagreeing with him on that count and decided to make the admission that would be acceptable to him. "We made it wonderful."


	7. Doctor Jackson

 

Nathan Jackson was not a happy man.

He should have been on his way to Eagle Bend, preparing to meet one of the most important appointments of his life but instead, he was riding into a small town less than an hours ride away from that large city in order to get cleaned up. The rain had not let up and if anything had become a full blown storm pelting the earth with large drops of water that felt like lashes against the skin. He supposed he ought to be grateful that the ferocity of the weather had washed away the mud that he had been covered in after he fell off his horse.

The town was called Hadley’s Hope and as towns went it was a nice little place that was home mostly to sheep graziers. It reminded Nathan of Four Corners before the arrival of the seven, although crime was not as rife here as it had been in the dry, dusty town that had been destined to be their homes. The main street was just a narrow stretch of land flanked by a general store, a hotel, a telegraph office, a post office, a jailhouse and all the usual utilities that was necessary when more than a dozen people settled in a place. Nathan and the others had reason to pass through the town on numerous occasions on their way to Eagle Bend. The sheriff was a George Brooks, a former Union soldier who had settled in the early days of the town and was a decent enough man. He kept the town safe and was not above asking help.

The town had been having troubles lately with a series of murders of young women not unlike the crimes that had beset the town a few years ago when Silas Poplar had come to Four Corners. The Pinkerton detective had claimed to be on the trail of the killer and had accused Josiah of the crime when it was he who had been responsible for all those deaths and might have taken Mary to had they not made the discovery in time. Nathan had been forced to examine the bodies after the murder and had to admit feeling for the first time in his life, that this was not a task that he wanted to do again. Later on when he had met Alex, she had explained to him that forensic science was a field gaining much prestige in the medical community and eventually, many crimes would be solved by the study of the victim’s body.

The seven had offered to help but catching Poplar had been sheer luck and other than manpower which Brooks had plenty off with the mobilisation of the townspeople, there was little they could offer in the way of expertise. Nathan knew that Chris was keeping a close eye on the situation in case the killer shifted towns as Poplar had done when he had left a slew of bodies in the wake of his travels. Nathan hoped the situation in Hadley’s Hope would not see a body count as high before the killer was brought to justice.

As he moved his horse towards the livery, he noticed a large gathering of people outside the local dressmaker’s shop. Judging from the sombre expressions on the faces of those collected at the boardwalk, trying to peer through the glass and braving the rain, Nathan immediately felt his heart sink that some tragedy had befallen the lady who conducted her business there. Although he had not the time to deal with this, the lawmen inside of him forced him to nudge his horse in the direction of the shop.

After all, what would it hurt if he just had a little look?

His arrival was barely noticed but even through the rain he could hear Brooks telling his deputies to keep people away and wondered if he was intruding by coming here. Nathan inched his horse to the nearest hitching post before dismounting and tethering the animal to the slick wooden bar. When he stepped onto the boardwalk, a few people glanced over their shoulders and paused a moment if they recognised him. Those who did know him from his previous visits simply returned to their viewing of the events taking place inside the shop.

Nathan skimmed the edge of the crowd, looking over the tops of people’s heads to see a pair of boots protruding from beneath a white sheet. He felt his stomach hollow, knowing those boots belonged to the next victim of the murder who had fallen prey to the mad man who was roaming the streets of Hadley’s Hope. He could hear someone weeping and had no doubt that there would be many such tears in the days following this grisly discovery. Suddenly, he saw Brooks emerge from the front door and issued orders to his deputy to keep people out of the crime scene.

Brooks was a lean wiry man. His build was not much larger than Ezra with a face worn by hard living and intelligent blue eyes that showed there was much compassion in his soul despite his hardened features. His dark brown hair was slowly greying and the moustache on his face was making better progress of the two. His eyes scanned the crowd, trying to see past their faces to see into their souls in order to find a killer. Nathan could see that the deaths had effected him and the expression in his eyes seemed haunted. 

"Nathan!" Brooks suddenly exclaimed, catching sight of the healer’s face in the crowd.

"Sheriff Brooks." Nathan tipped his soggy hat a little as the crowd parted for Brooks as he ploughed his way straight through them to reach the visitor from Four Corners. "I’m sorry to see you have another one your hands."

"Yeah," Brook nodded casting a brief glance at the door even though his eyes could not bring himself to look at the body once again. "Thelma Rutledge. She was our local dressmaker. Listen Nathan, our doctor up and moved with all the killing and I would surely appreciate it if you could take some time to have a look a Miss Rutledge and tell us what you can about the body. I mean I know there probably ain’t no difference from the last three that were killed but every victim is important and it helps us bring this bastard to justice."

Nathan did not know what to say. He had commitments in Eagle Bend and he was late already but then Brooks did not make this request lightly and an autopsy could not take him that long. All he had to do was make some quick observations and be on his way. The weather was bad and that was a plausible enough of an excuse for him to be a little late for his appointment. Surely they would not penalise him for that?

  
"To tell you the truth," Nathan said after a moment of consideration, aware that Brooks was waiting for his answer in anticipation. The man knew that Nathan was a doctor in training and that he knew something of criminal activity being a lawman himself in Four Corners. "I’m on my way to take my doctor’s exam in Eagle Bend but I reckon I could lend a hand."

He saw Brooks let out a visible sigh of relief at his agreement to help and a slow smile stole across the man’s face. "I appreciate your help. This won’t take long and you can get on your way." With that, he started leading Nathan through the group of people towards the door again. Brook’s hand brushed against the sleeve of Nathan’s shirt and the sheriff looked up at him. 

"Good lord, you’re soaked through!" Brooks exclaimed as they moved into the shop.

"Yeah the rain got me on the way here," he frowned, feeling chill bit into the skin at the mere reminder that he was soaking wet.

"One of those days huh?" Brook said with a faint smile.

"Something like that." Nathan replied and then they both fell silent when the door closed behind them and they were left alone with the body of Thelma Rutledge lying on the floor dead. Nathan allowed his gaze to sweep across the room; unable to envision how a setting so benign could be the scene of so much violence. A flower vase full of cuts flowers, tapestry fibre purse of rose design, a pair of shoes, newly mended sitting against the floor. These were things associated with someone going on with their life and enjoying the little pleasures of it. Not someone, who ought to be lying dead on the floor, covered with a sheet, lying nothing behind but the tragic circumstances of their end.

He looked at the door through which he had entered with the sheriff and saw no signs of violence, no broken glass or torn wood. The metal was slightly tarnished but the lock was very much in tact. He made the same observation of the windows and could see faces peering at him through the unbroken finished without a break or even crack to mar it. He glanced at Brooks, who was aware that he was studying the place and allowed him the moment.

"When was the last time anyone saw her?" Nathan found himself asking.

"Well Mrs Tynan brought a dress into her last evening about six." Brooks answered quietly. He had his back turned to the corpse as if he was done looking at it. "Says Thelma left the shop with her and locked up but when the body was found this morning, the door was open. The door at the back is still locked so I figured he got in somehow and left it unlocked when he was done."

Nathan considered his words and said nothing before he dropped to his knees and raised the blood soaked sheet that covered the young woman’s still form.

"Who did find her?" Nathan asked as he stared into the face of a woman in her early twenties with long gold hair, splayed around her hair, matted in places by the blood that had drained from the large gash across her neck. Her lips were blue with lifelessness and her skin seemed grey.

"Jenna Wade." Brooks answered. "Sixteen years old," the sheriff said grimly. "Came into pick up her new dress and found her like this. Poor thing is half out of her mind from the shock."

Nathan could not blame the unseen Jenna for behaving as she had. The sight of this could shake the resolve and the constitution of the most hardened of men. Thelma lay out stretched, her hands resting on her belly, folded one across the other. They almost looked like she had been laid to rest at peace. Nathan continued his observations, making sure there was no other injuries other than the most obvious. Nathan noticed something that caught his eye immediately but Brooks had not mentioned which meant he might not have understood or guessed.

"The others were laid out like this?" Nathan asked, glancing at the man. There was something very odd about this whole scenario. The way she had been laid to rest and the pristine atmosphere of the room. It was like it was arranged so that it would look as disarming as possible. Suddenly, he noticed that everything was neat and tidy. No signs of dresses she might have been presently working on or even the accroutments of her trade lying about the sewing machine against the wall. Not even one roll of thread could be seen.

"Sheriff," Nathan suddenly straightened up and found his mind ticking slowly as the pieces of what he was seeing around him started to form a vague jigsaw. "The other girls that were killed. Can I have a look at where they were found?"

Brooks stared at him, not daring to hope that he had a reason for making the inquiry, a reason that could well lead to an answer they were so desperately seeking to make these murders stop. "Of course." Brooks said eagerly, not at all about to deny that request. The reputation of the seven men who brought law and order to Four Corners could not be questioned, neither could the skills of his particular healer who had been proven so many times already. Brooks was aware from his earlier association with Nathan that the former slave had a quick mind and he sometimes saw things that was obvious only to him but no one else.

Right now, they needed that kind of clarity.

As Nathan followed Brooks out of the shop following the man’s instructions to his deputy to move the body to the local mortuary but not to have the undertake touch it until they returned, he asked himself what he was doing. He did not have time for this. As it was, he was going to be hard pressed to make it to Eagle Bend in time but somehow he could not pull himself away from this little town. Maybe he was wrong. Perhaps he was chasing some wild theory that had no basis in fact except in his mind but if he was right......

If he was right then they could end this before another girl wound up dead.

There was too much compassion in him to allow that to happen for the simple sake of an exam. Alex knew people, perhaps she could square it with them for him to take the exams again. Either way, it did not matter, he was going to help because he was being Doctor Jackson was not as important as saving someone’s life.

* * *

"The Johnsons are staying at some friends," Brooks told Nathan as they walked into the set of rooms above the hardware store that did not look unlike his infirmary in Four Corners. As he walked into home, he did not need Brooks to tell him about the Johnsons to know that they were a family of moderate means. There was very little on the walls and most of the furniture was hand made from rough-hewn wood. However, there were traces all around the place that it home filled with love.

Nathan walked through the home, trying not to think about the appointment he would be missing. He looked through the window with its cheery curtains and saw the rain still coming down outside, even though in light of what was happening at Hadley’s Hope it did not seem to make much difference. There was a pall of grey over the town that was more than just the weather. It meandered through the streets and through the buildings made slick by water until it seemed to saturate the entire town with its malaise of death.

Despite his urge to leave for Eagle Bend, Nathan knew he had to see other place to because he had to be sure of what he suspected. It was not Brook’s fault that he could not see the details because this was his town and his home. He lived with these people, grieved with them when their daughters were killed and felt their loss as profoundly as he might feel his own child, were they slain in the same brutal fashion. Being an outsider, he had the chance to see things clearly and offer a fresh perspective.

"I reckon she was found the same way?" Nathan asked, noting the pristine nature of the home as well as the lack of bloodstains. Blood had a tendency to seep into wood and leave an indelible impression behind that no one could ever forget, no matter how much scrubbing was applied to remove it.

"Yeah," the sheriff nodded, walking to the space before the cooking stove and glancing at the floor. No doubt, he was now revisited with the image he had seen when he first walked into room and caught sight of Maryanne Foster lying dead. "Lying in the same position, hands across each other. It almost looked like she was sleeping."

"You okay George?" Nathan said coming to the man.

"It’s hard." Brooks met his gaze and Nathan did not doubt it one second that it could be any other way. Nathan turned away a moment, resting on the leather boots that sat up against the nearby wall. Shoes, the poor girl would never wear again, he thought as he drifted towards it for no particular reason.

"How does he find them?" Nathan mused. When Silas Poplar had selected his victims, there had been a common denominator. He liked young, attractive women who happened to be independent and had vocations of their own to sustain them. Here there was no pattern at all. Thelma was young and attractive and she did have a job as a seamstress but Maryanne Foster was not quite fifteen years old. She was lovely young woman but their physical similarities according to Brooks, were poles apart. Thelma had gold hair, Maryanne’s was dark. Yet, a gut instinct told Nathan that there had to be a common denominator.

"I’m interested in knowing how he gets to them." Brook replied walking away from the fireplace and standing by the kitchen door, waiting for Nathan to complete his investigations. "Maryanne wasn’t found until supper time. Her ma had been in Eagle Bend and her pa had been working all day. He found her here but there was no sound of any kind of disturbance, not even a scream. No one downstairs even had the slightest idea that something was wrong. How can that be?"

Nathan had a pretty good idea. "George," he said after a moment. "I don’t see no blood stains on the floor."

"Well there weren’t much blood in the first place." Brooks explained automatically. "There was some but not enough to bleed into the wood like it can do with blood sometimes."

"You said she was cut across the neck?" Nathan inquired again, having an answer that explained everything.

"Yes," his brows furrowed as he saw Nathan’s line of questioning leading somewhere. "What you getting at?" He asked suspiciously.

"When you cut a jugular vein, there’s a lot of blood." Nathan replied. "It’s a major artery, everything that goes through your body has to go through that vein at some point. If she slashed her neck open, this place would have covered in blood. She would have died quick but it would be into the wood and no amount of scrubbing would make it gone. Believe me," the healer said earnestly. "I’ve seen men shot in throat with bullets and have that much bleeding, their clothes are covered with it before they even realised they were dying."

"There was not much blood with Thelma either," Brooks pointed out realising the connection that the healer had made. "Just a little like it was when we found Maryanne." Suddenly, it came to him and his eyes widened. "Jesus Christ....."

"Yeah," Nathan nodded once he understood. "They weren’t killed here. They were killed somewhere else."

"How would he have gotten the body here?" Brooks demanded, defying Nathan to answer this question because the possibility that they were not killed where they had been found had not occurred to him.

"Easy enough." Nathan responded. "Busy afternoon. People coming and going. You’d be surprised how easy it to move something big without people really paying attention. This here is a wood stove," he glanced at the iron cast device before him, its embers cold and grey from disuse. "Could have been someone bringing up wood, sack potatoes, anything really."

"And the same thing with Thelma." The sheriff replied, following the healer’s line of reasoning enough to make some speculations of his own. She could have left work with Harriet Tynan on her own. He could have been waiting until they split and then grabbed her. She would have her keys on her so all he needed was to do the killing and then bringing the body back to the sewing shop in the dead of night."

"That’s how I see it." Nathan nodded in agreement, having reached that conclusion far sooner than Brooks had taken to work it out in his head.

"Still don’t explain how he picks them though." He said after a moment, staring at Brooks briefly before they both left the confines of the Johnson home. Nathan waited briefly for Brooks to lock the door behind him and wished inwardly that Vin were here. The sharpshooter’s skill would have been most useful at this point. Vin had the amazing ability to see tracks where none were and make the most obscure marks in the ground tell him something.

"He can’t just be waiting for them to appear." Nahtan replied as he and Brook descended down the stairs into the street again. Both men hasten their pace as the rain was still drizzling outside, although in Nathan’s case, he was so wet that he hardly cared any more. However, it would be wise if he got into some dry clothing before he caught pneumonia or something equally debilitating.

"Well we’ve told women to be on the look out," Brooks explained as they ran for cover beneath the awning of the main boardwalk. Nathan shook the excess water off his hat as he looked at Brooks and gestured towards his horse at the direction he was taking. "Since the first murders, no woman is out on her own at night. Most of them are indoors by dark and if they do wander out, not to do it alone. Hell even the saloon girls are skittish with all the warnings we’ve been making but still he finds them."

"Sheriff," Nathan tried to put this delicately since there was no real way to put this without possibly offending the man and he did not wish to do that. "I know this is a bitter pill to swallow but I gotta ask. I’m assuming you’ve been looking for a man who is a stranger to these parts?"

"What other sort would I be looking for?" Brooks turned to him sharply. "I’ve run every drifter, vagrant and stranger I’ve seen in the last month through a fine tooth. My deputies keep an eye on them real close when they are in town enough to know that we’ve done all that we can do and it still ain’t enough."

"I think you better start expanding your suspects," the lawman from Four Corners replied. "You may be looking for someone in town, someone that is known to you and the townsfolk."

"Christ," Brooks swore, wondering just how much worse this could get. "I was really hoping it would not come to that."

Nathan could sympathise with him. When Billy Travis had returned to town, no one had ever suspected that Stephen Travis’ murderers would surface once again. Until then, everyone had assumed that the brave and forthright newspaperman had been killed in a robbery gone wrong. It was not until an attempt was made on Billy’s life that the truth was uncovered and the guilty men were found to be community leaders they had seen on a daily basis. Men, who in every possible way, were upstanding members of the town with dark secret. Nathan was certain that somewhere in the town of Hadley’s Hope, one such man was viewing his neighbours in the same way a lion may view the herd of zebra it was stalking.

"You better start thinking about it George," Nathan replied. "He knows he can get away with it so he won’t be stopping any time soon. He’s got a taste for it now and he’s getting better at it."

"He’s already killed three women," Brook said bitterly. "How much of a blood lust could he possibly have? How many women does it take to satisfy that urge?"

"I don’t you can put a number to it." He answered, remembering Silas Poplar. The Pinkerton detective had left a trail of bodies everywhere he went. Josiah was certain there was murders before the trademark duo left in other towns. Killers like these liked to hone their craft, to see how good at it they got. Their mind was a razor edged maze of hurt, trapped in a cycle of abuse that ended only until they died. "I think when it takes him, there ain’t no choice but to feed it until gets to wherever it needs to get."

The sheriff allowed Nathan half an hour to clean up and get into some dry clothes before the healer insisted on the lawman taking him to the rest of the murder scenes. Even though the appointment to take his exams weighed heavily on his mind, Nathan found he could not pry himself away from the plight of Hadley’s Hope when it was all possible for him to help. The homes belonging to the first two victims were no different from the Foster place or the sewing shop where Thelma Rutledge had made her living. As Brooks explained it, the victims had bee left the same way, with minimum flow of blood around the wounds which should had done nothing but the opposite.

Nathan scanned the rooms, trying to understand what it was that he was missing. He knew that his visit had uncovered more than Brooks had first expected and yet there was something nagging at the back of his mind that would not give him peace. It sat at the edge of the periphery of conscious thought, taunting him with its obscurity, confidence that he would persist in defining its mystery even if it drove him mad.

There were all the same, neat and tidy. The families who had dwelt in their walls had departed for the time being because the horror of their discoveries had been too much for their minds to cope with that the need to stay away was a necessity to overcome their loss. Nathan could understand that, if he lost someone the way these poor folks lost their daughter, wife, friend, he would be just as traumatised by the horror of it all. He could not blame them for staying away and felt a hint of guilt thinking that it was best that they had because he was able to move about their empty homes and view it as the killer had viewed the place before his departure.

They were all the same. So orderly with everything in its rightful place as if there as some insane ritual the killer demanded to satisfy the manner in which he would present his victim to the public. It was like a gallery of death, almost artistic in its methodology. The mind that did this was one who missed nothing, who enjoyed the grisly work and believed that the arrangement was in some twisted way an expression of his genius. Everywhere, he saw books in place, empty cupboards and flowers in a vase, shoes against the wall and not a sign of blood on the floorboards, a further indication that the murders had taken place elsewhere.

That question had plagued Nathan quite a bit as he made his observations with Sheriff Brooks in attendance. The place where the murders were committed had to be fairly close to town. Small communities like this made privacy impossible because gossip was the main past time and people were always getting their noses into other people’s business. A man like that had to be fairly sure of himself to move around a town like this without raising suspicion, doing the work he did. While Brooks was rather reluctant to admit the possibility, Nathan was certain that the killer was indeed a long time resident of Hadley’s Hope, perhaps even a man who was trusted and considered beyond reproach.

Maybe even the sheriff.

He shook the thought out of his head mostly because Brooks was too visible to commit the crimes. It was one thing for one of the townsfolk to be seen at either of the murder scenes but the sheriff was another thing entirely. A man with a badge tended to stick out in the crowd and besides Nathan was not blind to how badly Brooks felt about allowing such villainy to go on in his town. He had the same look on his face that Chris Larabee wore when one of the fellowship was hurt, even if he had no reason to blame himself for the injury. The nature of the man made him believe that everyone was his responsibility, whether or not it was necessary.

No, whoever was perpetrating these crimes was someone who could move about unnoticed. A man who was usually a nonentity in the eyes of everyone else, completely normal and always the least suspect of violence. Following his investigation of the homes and perfectly aware that he had missed his chance of making it to the exams on time, there was nothing left to do but for send a telegram to Judge Travis. No doubt, the Judge would pass it along to the powers that be at the examination centre that he had been held up due to the storm. Nathan had a reasonable hope of believing they would give him another chance because delays in the Territory were a part of life.

"I’m sorry you missed the exam." Brooks remarked after the two men had left the telegraph office and headed towards the undertaker’s parlour where Thelma Rutledge awaited Nathan’s expert eye.

"Its all right," Nathan said with a long sigh, unable to deny that he felt disappointed but aware that given the same choice he would have made the same decision. He wanted to be a doctor because he wanted to help people and save lives. It made no difference if he did that under the title of Doctor Jackson or just plain Nathan Jackson, either way, his efforts in Hadley’s Hope might save some lives. "The weather’s been pretty bad, maybe I can get them to let me take it tomorrow." He answered although he had a feeling it would take some intervention by Alex and her father’s friends who had arranged the accreditation in the first place.

Brooks could not deny that as Nathan responded, even though he knew the healer was feeling more than he was saying about his inability to make his appointment in Eagle Bend. Brooks respected Nathan a great deal, more than just because he was a lawman but also because he was a skilled healer that showed an unusual amount of compassion towards his patience. Despite his need to find the murderer who was running loose in his town, Brooks did wish that he had not delayed Nathan from his journey. If any man should be a doctor, it was Nathan Jackson.

"Well I appreciate you staying on a bit to help," Brooks said honestly. "This has been a bad business Nathan," Brook remarked as the funeral parlour came into view. The wind was still lashing the town with its gale and signs were flapping back and forth as they hung suspended under awnings. The rain was just as fierce and both men had to hold their hats down as they stood at the edge of the boardwalk, steeling themselves to run out into the open.

Nathan did not answer as they both ran across the muddied street, allowing the wind to rush past their ears and feeling the wet against their skin as the water started seeping through the clothes. Fortunately, they made it across before the cold reached the skin beneath and both men shook themselves off upon reaching shelter, like big dogs coming in from the rain. Nathan repeated the same procedure on his hat before regarding Brook’s comment.

"When we had the same trouble at Four Corners," Nathan explained. "It was like a having a kind of enemy that worse than a hundred outlaws coming at you with guns. At least you knew who to shoot at and that showed you how to protect your own. With Poplar around, we had no idea what we were dealing with because he told us so many lies just so that he could get closer to the women he was after. I hate to think what would have happened if Josiah hadn’t learned the truth." The healer said shuddering inwardly and it was not just because of the cold. "We would have lost Mary for sure."

"That would have been a loss," Brooks agreed, having met the lovely Mrs Travis...no he corrected himself, Mrs Larabee, during his occasional visits to Four Corners or when the woman stopped here on her trips to Eagle Bend to visit her kin folk there. "When’s the baby due?" He asked, moving to a lighter note briefly.

After all, there would be nothing of the sort when they entered the funeral parlour.

"Late winter, early spring." Nathan replied, happy to talk about something else for a moment. It gave the mind a chance to correlate the information already gathered and perhaps offer a fresh perspective when he gave the matter more thought once again.

"Larabee’s a lucky man." Brooks answered with a faint smile. He was a married man himself with two young daughters and knew how a family could bring peace to even the most troubled soul. While Chris Larabee was still an ornery cuss, there was a softer edge to him then there had been before and everyone who knew the man could see it. "What about Tanner? I heard that he was getting married?"

Nathan chuckled softly, aware of how Vin felt on that subject. "I figure he’ll get around to it eventually. Man’s terrified of anything that would get him out of that hide coat of his and into a new suit but Miss Alex is patient though," he smiled. "She’ll get him, sooner or later."

"I’m pleased to see that his name got cleared." Brooks admitted, aware of the price on Tanner’s head ever since the seven had first started their tenure in Four Corners. However, Brooks was of the belief that rumour did not offer the true insight into man’s soul and he formed his opinion of Vin Tanner on his own, without making any pre conceived notions of what a wanted poster might claim.

"We all were." Nathan agreed and started to tell Brooks something of the events that took place at Tascosa as Brooks opened the door of the funeral parlour and allowed him to enter the sombre surroundings first.

The first thing that caught his attention was the stink of formaldehyde and the other preserving agents used to prepare a body for its final journey in this plane of existence. The stench always made his skin crawl and Nathan wondered why these places felt ice cold, even in the worst days of summer heat. He supposed the cold was a state of mind rather than something real even though the chill in his bones was as near to reality as he ever wanted to get. It did not help that several of the establishment’s wares were laid out on the main display floor, as if anyone would ever shop for these things. Nathan was certain that the undertaken in Four Corners had all of the seven measured for coffins from the day they had agreed to take on the protection of the town.

The undertaker had placed Thelma Rutledge in the backroom where he prepared the bodies for burial. The man had taken the liberty of undressing her and leaving covered under a sheet with only her bare feet visible when Nathan and Brooks had walked into the room. Her clothes had been placed in a small box on a work bench against the table so that the investigators could peruse them for any evidence that might lead to an arrest. Nathan had a feeling that the undertaken had been practised with this ritual after the previous three deaths and hoped that he could find something that would allow him to abandon the grim task.

Pulling aside the sheet below her neck, Nathan began his examination of the body while Brooks stood by and watched. Nathan had the impression the man did not want to be present but was bound by duty to remain. He would have told the sheriff it was alright if he wanted to go but Nathan had a feeling that Brooks would not shirk his duty no matter how distasteful it might be to him personally. The healer said nothing as he examined the wound across the young woman’s neck, noting the gash across her throat that had ended in one clean swipe everything that she would ever be in this life.

"Very clean." Nathan declared studying the wound. "Whatever he used to cut her up ain’t no regular knife." He observed. "I’d say it was a doctor’s scalpel but it ain’t quite that fine. The cut is deep and slice through the jugular with no problem at all. It only took one swipe." He paused a moment and turned to face Brooks. "By the looks of it, he got them from behind. Probably armlocked up around the head and just pulled the blade across."

"At least it was quick." Brook muttered, knowing that it was not much consolation but at least Thelma’s family would know that she had not endured any lengthy ordeal at the hands of her killer.

"Very quick," Nathan assured him. "It takes practise to do something like this. There’s not even a pause, just a very slash that probably did not even give time for the victims to understand what happened until it was all over. I’d say that the man we’re looking for does this for a living. He could be a butcher, a tailor, maybe even a doctor but that’s stretching a little. The murder weapon was sharp but also very strong. The blade sank in deep almost to the bones of a neck."

"Jesus." Brook swore under his breath. "Are you sure about this Nathan?" He asked, hoping the healer was wrong but knew inwardly that Nathan would not cast aspersion on anyone unless he had a very good reason. "We’ve got only one butcher in town and Thelma was the only seamstress in town and we haven’t been with a doctor since Doctor Bairstow left with his wife and daughter when we found the second victim."

"I can’t be sure about anything," Nathan replied honestly. "I’m telling you what I think but I can’t guarantee that I’m exactly right."

"I understand," the sheriff nodded, realising that Nathan’s opinion was speculation on his observations, not the truth. Nonetheless Brooks was impressed by what Nathan had been able to tell him so far about their killer. At least, he had somewhere to concentrate his search on now. From what Nathan was trying to explain, Brooks gathered their man was skilled with an expertise that required fine and delicate work, yet physical laborious as well because no one cut a neck so deeply that it almost bordered on decapitation unless they had the physical strength for it. "Go on."

"Well she wasn’t sexually assaulted," Nathan replied after examining the rest of the young woman’s body. He felt invasive making such a private search of the lady’s person in death but knew it was vital for their investigation that he uncovered as much facts as he could. "I don’t see any of the usual signs so I’m guessing he killed her and then cleaned the body. Other than the neck after the initial bleeding had been allowed to run its course, there ain’t no blood anywhere else."

"That’s sick." Brook retorted. Why did the man take such care with the bodies after he performed the ultimate feat of savagery that any human being could perpetrate upon another? He placed them in their homes with what was almost affectionate care.

"Well I think it’s the ritual after the killing that does it for him." Nathan offered as a possible scenario. "I think they have to be dead first before he can do what he wants."

Nathan continued with the examination, trying to find something that would help them further but eventually the partial autopsy had come to an end with nothing left but some insight into how the killer had claimed its victims but not much else. Nathan wished he could do more but Thelma Rutledge could tell him no more and as he pulled the sheet over her face for the last time, he could help feeling this underlying sense of failure.

"I’m sorry George," Nathan sighed, unable to hide the fact that he had been bothered by his inability to bring more to light about how Thelma had met her end. "I hoped I could be of some help to you."

Sheriff Brooks came along side Nathan and patted him on the back in a gesture of thanks. "I appreciate what you done already Nathan," he said genuinely grateful. "You didn’t have to do this but you did because we needed you and that’s good enough for me."

"You know," the healer turned away from the corpse and went to the box where Thelma’s clothes and belonging were gathered. He began rifling through them distractedly, not paying attention to them really as he continued to speak. "I have this gut instinct that if we worked out how he picks them, we’d crack this thing."

"I don’t know," Brooks shook his head unable to see the pattern and understanding Nathan’s conundrum. Since the murders had began, he had read something of the few documented cases of killings like these and he had to admit, Nathan was right about there being some common denominator that would link all these women together. Their killer must have a reason for selecting the women as he had although at the moment, Brooks could not imagine what might be. They were all of different physical characteristics, social and economic backgrounds, the first was married, the last two were not. He had to admit they were all attractive but it had to be about more than just that, surely?

Nathan continued to examine the dress that Thelma had been wearing and found a wave of sadness wash over him as he found that he could still smell the lingering scent of lavender perfume coming from the material. He liked the sweet fragrance and wondered if it clung to her skin. He knew that when Rain wore some of that lilac perfume she liked so much, he could smell it all day in his lungs and when he kissed her, he could feel its misty aroma on her flawless skin. Thinking of Rain made him grateful that she was in Four Corners, safe from such madness that was currently doing its worst in the town of Hadley’s Hope.

Suddenly, he saw a black smudge on the fabric of her dress. For a minute he thought it might be grease or dirt but as he lifted it closer to his eye and examined it, he found that it was neither. Nathan ran his finger over smear of dark that rested just above the waistline as if she had been standing against something that had this substance on it. He could understand why the sheriff had missed this since Thelma’s dress was not a light colour and the only reason Nathan had noticed it at all was because he had been searching for some clue in her clothes.

"George," Nathan raised the gown out of its box and presented the smudged area to the sheriff. "What do you make of this?"

Brooks leaned closer to the stain for a closer look before allowing his fingers to make the same exploration that Nathan had done earlier. The substance was not slick and viscous like grease would be, not did it set the same way. Instead it was light against the skin, almost grainy but still possessing a waxy consistency that made it smooth when rubbed against the finger tips. "It ain’t oil or grease." He remarked. "If I didn’t know better, I’d say shoe polish."

"Shoe polish?" Nathan looked up and suddenly his mind began whirling. For a moment, he was uncertain of what he had stumbled upon, aware only of the nagging that had been sitting on the edge of his consciousness all days, suddenly becoming clear in his minds as the fog around it began to dissipate. Shoe polish. What had he seen that made shoe polish react him so? He knew he had the answer, it sat on the tip of his tongue, taunting at him in shrieks of exasperation until finally it exploded in his mind like a rainbow of colour.

"Boots!" Nathan exclaimed, immediately dropping the dress back into its box and running for the door. "Come on!"

* * *

Nathan ran out of the funeral parlour, hardly thinking about the rain that was going to saturate him with water the moment he emerged into the open. Splattering across the puddles of water and mud on the soaked ground, he made his way towards the sewing shop that had been the source of livelihood for Thelma Rutledge before her premature death. Behind him, Brooks followed unable to see what had made the healer so excited but was not about to argue with him since Nathan had been so far quite helpful to his investigations so far by offering insights he had never considered previously.

It did not take Nathan very long to reach the shop and when he stepped onto the boardwalk, he hardly noticed the rain on his clothes that was quickly seeping into his skin. Without pausing to shake the water off, he entered the shop that had been the scene of the latest murder and immediately scanned the front room for what he was certain was the vital clue that they had been searching for all this time. Brooks came in after him, a little out of breath but nonetheless confused.

"What the hell are you doing?" Brooks asked, taking a moment to catch his breath after the sudden exertion. "What do you mean boots?"

Nathan was already picking up the pair of ladies boots he had seen sitting against the wall, placed neatly like everything else thanks to the killer’s ministrations. Flipping them over in his hands so that he could examine the soles of the shoes, Brooks watched Nathan holding them under deep scrutiny before coming to rest on the newly replaced heel. The repair was easy see since the new leather was in stark contrast to the old. When Nathan made this observation, Brooks saw him release a breath almost in satisfaction of his discovery.

Whatever that might be.

"Boots." He said after a moment. "That’s how he find them."

"Boots?" Brooks stared at Nathan wanting him to explain because the healer had just slashed the list of suspects from a handful to significantly less than that.

"Yeah boots," Nathan said putting down the shoes and making his way towards the door. "Come on," he motioned the sheriff to follow him. "I’ll explain on the way." He called out and Brooks took a deep breath before hurrying after the healer.

They were walking down the boardwalk when Nathan started to explain what had led him to the conclusion he had just formed. "From the beginning, we couldn’t understand how they were getting taken. After all, you’ve been smart enough to let the ladies in this town know that there’s a killer on the loose and that it ain’t safe to be wandering around alone. I couldn’t figure why they would just go with some stranger to be cut up the way they have been."

"But you said that the chances are, this ain’t no stranger." Brooks pointed out, reminding Nathan what he had said earlier about their killer.

"That’s right," Nathan agreed, not about to dispute that fact since it held no relevance at the moment. "However, a woman just doesn’t follow a man that she knows somewhere private unless there’s a very good reason for it and I’m assuming that these ladies don’t seem to be the type that would do that, married or unmarried, young or old."

"That’s right," Brooks nodded. "It ain’t proper for a fifteen year old girl to just go off with a man unless she knew him pretty well and trusted him."

"Exactly," he smiled as they took the familiar path towards Maryanne Foster’s home. "What if she needed to go see him?"

"Needed to go see him…." Brooks looked at Nathan when suddenly the answer clicked into place and the understanding that Nathan was trying to impart on him flooded his mind with knowledge. "Jesus, she needed to go see him to get her boots repaired."

"That’s how he finds them." Nathan smiled triumphantly. "I was looking around Maryanne’s place and the other two and I noticed one thing that didn’t make sense at the time but I didn’t think much of it cause it was so insignificant. There were pairs of shoes neat against the wall in all three instances. He puts them back after he’s done with the women. Chances are if he has store or something, that’s where the murders were committed."

"They go to get their shoes repaired." The sheriff was breathing hard, as if the truth that had been relayed to him was more than he could stand because his heart was pounding in his chest and he did not dare believe it could be true, that the answer was at their finger tips. "And he kills them in the shop and then places them and the shoes in the house."

"I’d say, they dropped the shoes off first to be repaired and the killing took place when the ladies came back to get them. I wouldn’t be surprised if Thelma Rutledge made a stop to get her boots back after she and Mrs Tynan went their separate ways." The healer offered an alternative scenario instead.

"And if Maryanne Foster was to do the same, she’d call in at the place on her way back from school." Brooks replied.

"You’ll need to check with the other one." Nathan responded, certain that they were right about what they had learnt in the last hour.

"Right," Brooks nodded in agreement, having made the decision to do that once Nathan had his confirmation at the Foster place. In the meantime, he was going to steer the healer past his jailhouse so that he could give some instructions to his deputies.

"So," Nathan looked at the sheriff and asked the question that had been lingering on his mind following the discovery of the shoe polish that unlocked the truth about the murders. "How many boot maker do you have in this town?"

The sheriff smiled faintly. "Only one." He answered. "He lives alone and has a store on the far side of town. His name is Leyland Banks."

* * *

The rain had started to abate by the time Nathan and Sheriff Brooks found themselves staring at the building where Leyland Banks conducted his trade a boot maker and as a tanner of leather. After going to the Foster home and discovering that the shoes he had spied there earlier had been under the recent administrations of a boot maker, they had repeated the same search at the home of the first victim and found the same thing. Upon that discovery, neither man had any reason to doubt that the hypothesis they had formed about how the killer had found his victims was nothing but the truth. Although, there would always be doubt until they found conclusive evidence such as a murder weapon for instance, Brooks now had a face against which he could guard the rest of the community.

While it was just as easy for Nathan to make his departure following this new development, he found that he wanted to remain to see how this situation played out. A part of him could not believe that a short stay could yield so much and yet he still could not help feeling disappointed at having missed the exams he had spent so much time in preparation. However, the healer in Nathan could not walk away for that very reason. Even if it meant losing the chance of being a doctor, Nathan was not about to stop saving lives. Perhaps he would be doing it in a different manner than what he had previously thought but nonetheless, he would be content to know that there would be no fourth victim.

As he and Brooks arrived at Leyland’s store after interviewing the family of the first victim and examining the shoes that more or less confirmed everything they had deducted up to this point, the deputies were keeping Mr Bank in their sights. They had been watching Mr Leyland ever since Nathan’s revelation had finally given them the suspect they had been waiting to find from the onset of the first murder.

"Is he in there?" Brooks asked his head deputy upon reaching the man.

Faulkner was as almost as experienced a lawman as Brooks and he had been watching the store by idling his time inside the general store whose shop window faced the front of Banks’ premises.

"Yeah," Faulkner nodded. "Had a couple of people go in there over the last hour but they’ve been and gone."

"Good," Brooks nodded, having no wish to worry about anyone when he and Nathan finally confronted the man. "Have you got the others in place?"

"They’ve sealed off the area." Faulkner replied tautly and was just as passionate about bring this man to justice as the rest of his comrades. The terror the town had endured because of these murders had touched the core of the community and like Brooks, Faulkner wanted it over and done with. "If he’s our man, he ain’t getting past any one of us."

"Hold position," Brooks said quietly aware that the eyes of shoppers in the store were watching the trio, suspecting that something was happening if not what. They cast their furtive gazes at the direction of the sheriff and his companions, trying not to listen in but felt compelled to do so because there could only be one reason Brooks was so worked up. "Nathan and I are going in to have a little talk to Mr Brooks. If we can, we’re going to bring him in peacefully." Despite his personal feelings towards the murderer that had been terrorising his town, Brooks had no intention of letting the search for justice, become a quest for vengeance. If all possible, they were going to do this by the book.

Still he was not about to forget the young women whose lives Banks might have possibly taken. The sheriff was not unmindful of the fact that the entire wealth of evidence against the town’s boot maker was fixed solely on Nathan’s theory and liked the healer, wanted something more substantial before deciding that the man was entirely guilty.

"However," Brooks added, remembering the three young women who lives had savagely curtailed. "If he makes a run for it, shoot him."

Faulkner tipped his hat forward and nodded. "You got that for sure." The deputy felt no hesitation about pulling the trigger if Banks ran like the guilty coward he was.

"All right," Brooks took a deep breath and looked at Nathan. "Let’s do this."

"It’s your show Sheriff." Nathan replied, having no real authority to do anything in Hadley’s Hope and was accompanying Brooks as moral support but also to see if he was right about what he claimed. The coat he was wearing hid the assortment of knives he carried into battle because if things got tense, he might need their assistance.

Brooks met his gaze briefly before the sheriff took the lead and walked out of the general store, aware that eyes had followed his departure and that of the visiting healer. Nathan could see the line of tension on his jaw as they crossed the wet street, toward the boot maker shop owned by Mr Banks. As they made their advance, Brooks explained that part of the reason that it was easy for him to accept that Banks might be their killer was because the building in which he conducted his business was wholly owned by him. Banks not only ran his store from there but also lived in the building and the situation of the structure had it some distance away from the rest of the main street.

If Banks was their killer, his home provided the ideal setting for his grisly work.

As they approached the front door, Nathan could see Banks behind his workbench, working on the heel belonging to a pair of men’s boots. He was pulling away the damaged heel and preparing to replace it with the new one that was sitting in front of him on the bench. Banks was not a physically imposing man. If anything, he looked thin and somewhat unhealthy. His eyes, which were of a watery, blue colour immediately locked on to them as they reached the door.

Nathan allowed Brooks entry first and as the Sheriff walked into the store, Banks wiped a strand of dark hair out of his face and forgot what he was doing, straightening up to face the new arrivals. Nathan’s eyes were immediately moving across the room, searching for some clue that might give irrefutable proof of the man’s guilt. He could see the boot polish on the table and the tools the man used on the workbench. The knives he used were made for cutting through leather and yet flexible enough to shape the tough material for use. Aside form boots; Banks worked all kinds of leather goods such as saddlebags and even saddles that needed repairing. The room stunk of saddle oil and the floor did not reveal any bloodstains although it was difficult to tell because the floor was so grimy. However, Nathan did notice a small lift up door at the corner of the room.

"Sheriff." Banks said nervously, "what can I do for you?"

Brooks paused in front of the workbench and offered the man a smile before answering. "I’m sorry to bother you Leyland but I got a couple of questions."

"Questions?" The man asked, betraying nothing even though he had noticed Nathan glancing at the little door.

"Yeah questions," Brooks answered and then glanced at Nathan. "This here is Doctor Nathan Jackson, he’s come into town to help us with the murders."

"Shit," Banks retorted. "There ain’t no nigger doctors, Sheriff." He gave Nathan a perfectly derisive look. "I think this nigger is pulling something on you."

Brooks clenched his jaw, unprepared to let things get out of hand and saw that Nathan was unperturbed by the insult although the healer was a little curious as to why Brooks had referred to him as a doctor. The way things were going, that was  _not_  going to happen for quite some time.

"Doctor Jackson is a real physician," Brooks continued his questioning, although there was a hard edge to his voice now. "However, what I want to know is whether or not Thelma Rutledge was in here last night."

"Thelma Rutledge?" Banks was already shaking his head, watching Nathan like a hawk especially when the healer started walking casually towards the small door.

"Yeah," Brooks repeated himself. "She was killed last night. I wanted to know if you might have seen her."

"No," he said starting to get a little anxious the nearer Nathan came to that small door. "Hey nigger, don’t you be wandering around now. If I find anything missing, I’m gonna take it out of your hide."

"Answer the question Leyland." Brooks demanded, disliking how the man was treating Nathan intensely. "Forget about the door, you got bigger problems."

"Like what!" Banks growled. "You ain’t got a shred of proof she was here!"

Nathan dropped to his knees and pulled open the little door. Banks just about leapt over the work bench to reach him but Brooks reached for his gun before the man could even land on the floor boards to take the step forward to reach the healer. "I wouldn’t Leyland," Brooks warned with ice in his voice. "I’m looking for a reason to kill you, don’t give me one."

"You ain’t got no right!" He shouted was he saw Nathan open Pandora’s Box.

"If you killed those girls, you ain’t got no right!" The sheriff barked and then turned to Nathan. "Go ahead!"

Nathan offered the lawmen a slight not and peered into the small compartment and was unsurprised by anything he had found. Wrapped neatly in a bundle of leather was a tanning knife and while it had been washed, there were still tell tale signs of blood having seeped permanently into the wooden handle. There was also a pendant that would later be identified as belonging to Thelma Rutledge and a score of other  _souvenirs_  that Leyland Banks had collected from his victims.

Further investigation would reveal the remains of a burnt drop cloth in the man’s furnace which he had used to clean the blood of Thelma Rutledge the night before he had murdered when she had come to claim her shoes. No doubt, he had disposed of others like it when he had lured his victims to his shop in order to collect their repaired footwear. Always presenting the helpful facade, Banks would wait until they were preparing to leave before he would grab them from behind as Nathan had suspected and slit their throats. He would then clean the bodies and return them home; sometimes changing their clothes if what they wore were too soiled before destroying that which was.

Eventually however, the most damning evidence would come from Bank’s himself, when the weight of everything they had found dragged the confession out of him and brought an end to the his reign of terror in Hadley’s Hope.

* * *

Nathan arrived at the home of Orin Travis later that evening.

Despite having missed the examination that should have been one of the most important events of his life, the healer felt strangely satisfied that he had done the right thing by stopping at Hadley’s Hope and aiding Sheriff Brooks. Before he left, Brooks had made him promise to come back to the town once things had settled down and to bring Rain with him. According to the sheriff, he deserved supper at least for what he had done to bring Leyland Banks to justice. However, as he neared the Judge’s home, Nathan started to feel a little disappointed at having missed the examinations not to mention arriving late at the Judge’s home when the man had been so good as to offer him a bed at night and supper.

"Well Mr Jackson," Orin Travis said after they were settled in front of the fireplace on two comfortable wing chairs warming themselves with the heat. With a hot cup of coffee in his hands, Nathan suddenly felt the day catch up on him and wished for nothing more than a warm bed so that he could prepare himself for the ride home tomorrow.

"It looks like you made this trip for nothing." The judge looked at him.

"I wouldn’t say that," Nathan admitted. "The folks in Hadley’s Hope needed help. I was glad I was able to do something for them. That has to counts for something."

"Indeed it does," the judge agreed readily. Orin liked Nathan Jackson and admired his ability to learn despite the lack of a formal education. He had seen Nathan perform miracles with his hands that most surgeons could not dream of achieving even after a lifetime of practice. Like the rest of the seven, Orin trusted Nathan explicitly but there was also a hint of admiration in the old man for the former slave that was exclusive only to him. "Sheriff Brooks sent me a telegram shortly after you left for Eagle Bend."

"Oh?" Nathan lowered the cup of coffee he was about to take a sip form and looked at the judge. "What did he say? Was there some trouble with Banks?"

"No, not at all." Orin quickly assuaged that fear. "He merely informed me of how invaluable you were to his investigation and wanted me to express his personal thanks to the doctors at the examination centre for allowing you the time to aid him in capturing a dangerous criminal. A task of course I was happy to do and surprisingly enough those doctors, some of whom I happen to know well, asked me to relay to you a message. That is when you feel able, they would like to see you one week from today at the centre to take your accreditation exams."

Nathan’s jaw dropped open as he stared at Orin in surprise. "Judge, I don’t know what to say...." For once the healer was at a loss for words.

"Just say that you won’t start charging me for medical attention when you become a physician." Orin Travis grinned and then added with genuine hope for the younger man’s future. "Doctor Jackson."

 


	8. Love Potion No.9

 

Actually, Josiah’s day had been strange from the onset, so he was not at all surprised by how it moved from the sublimely bizarre to the extremely weird by the time the sun set on the evening. Of course, Josiah had come to learn that such a state of affairs was nothing unusual in Four Corners as it seemed to be the convergence point for anything out of the ordinary and usually gained its fullest strength around the seven men who guarded the town. During his time in Four Corners, Josiah had been visited by a gamut of odd occurrences, from mechanical monsters to strange alien creatures who wore human skin and was not particular about whose they took for their use.

At least he knew those were oddities whose presence in the world was fleeting and once visited upon them would be gone fortunately from this realm and in all likelihood, would never return again. However, the presence of a little blond girl with the taste for the mystic ensured that Josiah’s life would never stray too far from the extraordinary. Since the arrival of Lilith King and her mother the new schoolteacher, an undiscovered vein of paternal emotion had surfaced out of nowhere within Josiah for the young girl with a penchant for the supernatural.

While his feelings for her mother was currently navigating uncharted some waters, Josiah knew exactly how he felt about Lilith following her initial bout of conjuring. Until then, spells and mysticism were little more than fancy words spoken by magicians while entertaining the crowds with clever card tricks and vermin carefully hidden in formal headwear. He never imagined it could be real but then as previous experience had taught him, the world was not a place of absolutes and when he was plunged into the reality of his hearts desire, Josiah learnt just how potent a force true magic could be.

A hundred years ago, what Lilith praticised in her dabbling with the arcane arts would have seen her burnt at the stake by the masses and there were still factions among good Christian folk who would advocate such penalties if they knew what held her interests. There was no doubt in his mind that true magic was neither evil nor some by-product of satanic worship. Lilith had made her first conjuring because she had wanted to bring happiness to those around her. Josiah could not bring himself to believe that a force which could be manipulated for such noble ends could be entirely bad. There was theatre of belief who considered guns to be evil and yet men argued that guns were not the true evil but rather the men who employed its application. Josiah seemed to think magic could be utilised the same way.

Some day, he had no doubt she would master the potential that was harboured in her young body and the power at her finger tips could be save lives, bring hope to the despaired and perhaps change the world in ways he could not imagine. However for the here and now, Lilith was a little girl sitting on a powder keg and Josiah had appointed himself her keeper. It was not a task he found laborious because for most part, Lilith was a delightful child. She was young and inquisitive, eager to learn and able to accept much of what he told her because her mind was open to all forms of knowledge. And because he believed he filled a void in her life left vacant by her father.

Josiah enjoyed being that for her most of all.

They spent a great deal of time together, mostly talking about things. She liked listening to him recite poetry, telling her stories about far away places and people with names like Helen, Perseus, Beowoulf and Gilgamesh. If she had been a boy, there was no telling what that intelligence might do for her in the future and Josiah knew that whatever course fate had in store for Lilith would no doubt be an interesting one.

They say the path to hell is lead with good intentions and never was this phrase more true when one was referring to Lilith. When Billy Travis had professed a desire to get Julia Pemberton and by the same token, all his friends which included the seven and their ladies, the perfect Christmas gift, Lilith had lent her assistance which saw her casting a spell that granted them all their fondest wish. What had intended to be a spell to bring much happiness had plunged them headlong into a nightmare of biblical proportions as the world around them splintered into custom made realities for all those involved.

Josiah had found himself a preacher like he had always wanted but knew inwardly was not the life for him. Until then, he had nursed the dream as one would harbour the desire to take that long trip, they knew they never would. The reality of that wish had made him grateful for what he was but for the others, it had been downright frightening.

He had managed to learn about their wishes with idle discussion about dreams the day after and discovered that JD had thrown out  _all_  his books about gunfighters and shootouts, the very books that had brought him to the West in the first place. Nathan seemed more at peace about his sister’s passing and Ezra’s feelings towards slavery in any shape or form was so acute that his opinions bordered on abolitionist at times. Vin had merely mentioned that he would have rather faced judgement in Tascosa instead of going after Eli Joe himself because it would have probably ended badly and for some reason, Buck had not been able to look at either Julia or Alex in the face for weeks after.

What Chris had dreamed was a secret known only to him.

The entire incident had given them all a finer appreciation for everything in their lives but for Josiah, there had been an unexpected bonus. At the stage in life the former preacher had reached, he was quite happy if things remained the same forever. He had his friends and something of a family in the fellowship of the seven and occasionally, when Maude Standish came to town, much to the chagrin of her son, he had a little female companionship as well. Josiah was well aware that Maude did not take him seriously as a suitor and wondered how she would have felt if she learnt that he felt more or less the same. Women did have a double sided view of such things. They enjoyed each others company, perfectly content with the fact that there was no relationship to speak of, just the mutual enjoyment of two people whose paths occasionally intersected.

The first time he had met Audrey, he was not even in this world. He was in the dream reality created by Lilith and he had been a preacher asking for her to believe him. He remembered how it was to look at her that first time, to see a face just as worn by the years as his and yet lovely nonetheless because the sparkle in her blue eyes was not bound by time. She had believed him when there had been no reason to do so and that had touched Josiah more than anything she could have said. He still carried the memory of taking a turn with her through that tree lined walk to the river and wished it was something he could share with her.

Getting to know Audrey was no easy thing. While she was artistic with a tendency to be flamboyant in her speech and her manner, she was a surprisingly private person. They say some women could be a mystery a man could spend a life time trying to unravel and in Audrey’s case, it was precisely that. After nurturing a friendship of so many months, since what they were could hardly be called courting, Josiah found that he cared for Audrey more than he had for any woman in his life. When they were together, they spoke of books and travels, of things seen in life, of religion and politics and any subject that captured their interest. He found his mind challenged by hers and reaffirmed Josiah’s belief that Four Corners was a magnet for strong, intelligent women as evidenced by Mary, Julia and Alex before her.

Audrey had no idea or course that Lilith was an amateur sorceress. While Audrey was aware that Lilith enjoyed reading that musty old book handed down from her ancestors, she did not know that her daughter considered the book more than just fascinating and was actively conjuring spells that had far reaching potential. There were moments when Josiah considered telling her about Lilith’s predilection and yet feared the reaction that might come from the revelation. While he cared about Audrey and was confident enough to know quite a bit about the lady, he could not say for certain how she would take the news that her daughter was a powerful sorceress in the making. Audrey was open minded but Josiah did not know if she was  _that_  open minded. When they had been in that alternate reality, she had accepted what he had told her readily enough but so much about that other world had been distorted to suit, Josiah did not know if that included her response as well.

Josiah did not know when the revelation would be made to Audrey but he hoped it was later rather than sooner because things between them had settled into comfortable and Josiah  _liked_  comfortable.

Unlike the others, his world did not need shaking up.

* * *

"How am I gonna stay one step of her?" Buck Wilmington grimaced as he sat at their usual table in the Standish Tavern, moaning his circumstances following the sudden arrival of Millie back to town.

"Just tell her the truth Buck!" JD groaned in exasperation, giving the preacher a look at how ridiculous this was when the solution was so simple.

Josiah smiled as he saw JD’s disbelief and thought to himself just how much the boy who had first forced his way into their ranks had grown since that initial arrival in Four Corners. JD was on the verge of becoming a man and judging by the sense he was displaying at the present moment, he would be a pretty good one in Josiah’s opinion. The preacher felt a sense of pride knowing that he had a small part in that.

"Out of the mouth of babes." He drawled in his low rumbling voice before continuing to enjoy the lunch that Rain had set before him.

"It ain’t that simple." Buck gave them both a look. "I don’t want to hurt her feelings!" The big man said wanting to know why Josiah and JD found this so hard to understand. "I’m a fine catch." He continued to procrastinate. "I mean the poor girl could be devastated knowing that I slipped through her fingers." With a perfectly straight face, he sat up erect in his chair and added with great dignity. "I ain’t easy to get over you know?"

"Of course not." Josiah said with an equally straight face. "However, might I remind you that your wife may not take to kindly with your attempts to keep one step ahead of Miss Millie." Josiah pointed out, ever the voice of reason.

"Yeah…." Buck nodded, his face creasing with new lines of worry at that possibility was presented to him. "Inez ain’t gonna believe I had nothing to do with this."

"How do you know that?" JD countered. "You and Inez are married now, I’m pretty sure that she trusts you."

"Boy," Buck looked at the younger man as if he was talking a child. "You don’t know the first thing about women do you?" He challenged. Without waiting for JD to answer, Buck pushed himself away from the table and started towards the door muttering. "I got lay low for a while. If she can’t find me, there ain’t no reason to worry….."

JD and Josiah stared at the new father as their gaze followed him out of the saloon and shook their heads collectively after his departure. "You know Josiah," JD sighed. "I’m starting to think I know a lot more about women than he thinks, without actually knowing a woman." The last part of his sentence came forth rather awkwardly and he tried to convey his intention a little more clearly.

"I understand your meaning, my young friend," Josiah said sparing him the embarrassment of trying to explain. "I am afraid Buck’s affection for the ladies, sometimes clouds his judgement as to what they are really like. He has an image in his mind that does not always fit the reality." The older man replied and felt some with Buck in that sense. There was a time when Josiah was more in love with the idea of being in love than actually caring about the object of his affections. He still stung from humiliation when he thought of how ardently he had built the image of Emma in his head when it was nothing like the reality of what she was. Josiah was glad he had a more measured view of Audrey.

"You think its that way with him and Inez?" The young man asked somewhat shocked if it was. Buck and Inez were like fire and oil but the conflagration they ignited by their passion seemed to feed of each other and it was impossible for an outsider to watch without feeling the heat.

"Probably not," he shook his head. "Fortunately, in that relationship, Inez is the smarter one."

JD laughed at the thought and could well believe it. The youth glanced outside the window and frowned with displeasure at the storm that was forming just beyond the confines of Four Corners. Josiah was aware that JD had plans to spend the day with Casey and that a storm would almost certainly put an end to that desire.

"I wouldn’t advise it." Josiah remarked just in case the boy was considering throwing caution to the wind. If it had been mere summer drizzle, Josiah would have kept his peace but the clouds forming in the sky outside promised a thunderstorm that would be most unforgiving to those foolish enough to venture into its fury. "Weather’s looking pretty bad. That storm is gonna be fierce."

"I know," JD said unhappily, not at all impressed at having to disappoint Casey. "I really wanted to spend some time with her you know?"

"I do," Josiah nodded understanding completely and reminded himself he had to call in on Audrey because they had plans for supper tonight and he thought they might go a restaurant for a change. She always seemed to be cooking meals for him and Josiah felt that it was high time she was relieved of the chore, no matter how wonderful a cook she might be. Still, he did not want to impose upon any plans that she might have made already so it was best to go check nonetheless.

He had observed his friends long enough now to know what  _not_  to do when it came to women.

"I am sure Casey will be pleased just spending some time in your company JD." Josiah said confidently. "Maybe you just spend an afternoon just talking with her." He suggested.

JD nodded, thinking that this too was a good idea. After all she had spent the last few days alone without Nettie, perhaps she might be a little lonely and JD hated the idea of picturing the young woman starved for human companionship. Maybe they could do something in town, which did not require good weather. In any case, he would go see her first and make sure a change of plans met with her approval.

He had observed his friends long enough now to know what  _not_  to do when it came to women.

* * *

Despite the promise of bad weather, it was a rather nice day in Four Corners. There was just enough hint of a breeze to take the edge of the summer heat and while people were staying close to home in case the storm came their way instead of moving on as they thought, they were nonetheless out in force going about their business. The same could be said about the children who were running around, playing and getting to mischief the way only the young could. With summer, came the inevitable break from school and so the younger citizens of Four Corners were also highly visible today. As he thought about children in general, Josiah found himself sniggering at the thought of Ezra and Billy’s duel later today.

The gambler was itching to get disembowelled by Mary if she discovered that he was encouraging Billy in the boy’s card playing activities. It was not as if Ezra had not suffered the wrath of Mrs Larabee once before after teaching the boy the art of craps, which Billy displayed to his full potential in Audrey’s school house during lunchtime. Josiah remembered how amused Audrey had found the whole incident even thought she was meant to disapprove of such behaviour and was forced to take a punitive role because she was meant to be instilling her charges with good moral fibre.

Suddenly he saw Lilith emerge onto the boardwalk, making a beeline for home. There was something of the furtive in her manner and immediately sparked Josiah’s interest as he hastened his pace to catch up with the young girl. She was carrying a little bag with her and seemed to be holding it with more care that normal which immediately aroused the suspicious nature of the lawman inside Josiah. Although he was aware that she still dabbled in her interest in conjuring, Josiah knew that she had not referred to the Book of Shadows, which was the real ignition for her latent abilities. He hoped the reason she was making her silent advance was not because she was moving into those uncharted waters again.

"Hello Lilith." Josiah greeted as he came up along side of her and looked down into a pair of blue eyes.

"Hello Josiah." She met his gaze sharply and Josiah could smell something of the shock she was displaying in that seemingly cherubic face. She was not scared but he had caught her by surprise.

"What are you up today?" He asked, trying not to sound accusatory since he had no idea whether or not she was doing anything wrong. Women were filled with secrets and little girls were no different, Josiah thought. It was beyond his ability to decipher whether or not those secrets had anything to do with magic and spells.

"Nothing." She said trying to hide the anxiety form her voice.

"What’s in the bag?" He pushed, once again reminding herself that she was not under suspicion and that his question was merely mirroring his curiosity.

"Stuff." She looked ahead, keeping her eyes from him.

"What kind of stuff?" He inquired, perfectly content to play this game of questions and answers.

Lilith thought quickly, certain that Josiah was on to her and what she intended to do with the contents in her bag was too important for her to abandon it. However, she needed to give him an answer and quickly thought up an excuse that might allay his suspicions. "Stuff to make an Indian charm." She blurted out in a fit of inspiration.

"An Indian charm?" He looked at her.

"Yeah," she nodded with a smile, seeing that he had been unprepared for her answer and was just surprised enough to believe it. "I’m gonna make a good luck charm for Billy." She continued, building the little white lie into something more plausible.

Josiah knew that it could very well be that since it was he who had taken her out to the Indian village to visit Kojay on occasion. Audrey who was not averse to allowing her daughter learn about other cultures had allowed him to take Lilith for the experience of actually meeting Indians and forming her own opinion, instead of the biased view held by most white folk. Josiah knew that Lilith had enjoyed the day out and spent most of her time with the medicine man and watched how the women in the tribe went about their chores. She had remarked to him at the end of the day that their worlds were not so dissimilar from one another, just a little different.

Josiah remembered feeling immensely proud when Lilith had declared that she did not know whose way was better.

"A good luck charm huh?" He nodded slightly, showing his approval and on a deeper note, his relief.

"I figure he needs all the help he can get." Lilith added. "Him playing cards with Ezra is such a bad idea."

"Well not really," Josiah shrugged. A small smile crossed his face picturing the cool, collected gambler, ever the picture of calm deliberation, sitting across the table from an eight year old playing a game of go fish. Then the devil in him flashed another thought in his mind at the image, what if Ezra lost? "I reckon that it ain’t so easy to cheat at go fish."

"Ezra wouldn’t cheat." Lilith exclaimed, unable to imagine Ezra Standish doing anything of the sort. After all, Ezra was a professional as he was so often fond of saying to anyone who listened.

"Of course not." Josiah said with a perfectly straight face because he was not about to fill the young girl on the facts of life when it came to the card skills of one Mr Standish. While Ezra was a damn fine card player, Josiah and the rest of the seven knew that he was not averse to tipping the odds in his favor when he felt the need to salvage his pride or replenish his empty coffers.

"The medicine man at the village showed me how to make the charm," Lilith continued to say, pleased that Josiah had bought her story because she did not want to have to tell him that she was conjuring from the book, even if it was for the best reasons.

"Well," Josiah said as they took the turn towards the house. "Just as long as you promise me you ain’t doing nothing dangerous." He gave her a stern look that was more paternal than it was warning and Lilith nodded obediently.

"I won’t Josiah." She said feeling a twinge of guilt for her deception and moved quickly to change the subject. "Are you coming to see mama?"

"Yeah," Josiah replied. "Is she home?"

"I think she was going to visit with Mrs Potter this morning," Lilith answered, trying to remember what her mother had on her agenda today. Suddenly, she realised that Josiah intended to come home with her and decided that would not at all do. She needed privacy to cast her spell and knew that mama was not home anyway. "Said she’ll be back this afternoon."

"This afternoon huh?" Josiah paused, seeing no reason to continue if Audrey was not going to be home. "Okay." He looked down at Lilith, "tell you ma I’ll call in later or if she wants to say hello, I’ll be doing some work at the church."

"Sure Josiah," Lilith beamed at being able to deter him from his course. "I’ll tell her."

* * *

It was more than an hour after his encounter with Lilith that Josiah finally saw Audrey.

As usual, he spent most of his free time when he was not helping out at the Lucky 7 ranch either playing the part of lawman in Four Corners or putting the finishing touches to the church which had been his pet project since arriving in town. He knew that as far as he was concerned he would never really get it finished because part of his enjoyment at working on the place was the fact that there always a little something else he had to get done. Josiah did not mind, there were worst ways to spend ones time.

"Hello Josiah." Audrey announced herself as she came down the aisle as he was coating the pulpit with some varnish to turn its dull finish into something more presentable.

"Hello Audrey." Josiah poked his head from behind the stand and flashed her a smile.

Audrey looked as beautiful as always, with her dark hair worn up and delicate strands cascading around her neck while she regarded him with those incredibly blue eyes. Each time he looked at her, he knew that what he felt for her was no romantic image of what a woman should be but a feeling for her that was more genuine than any he had ever known.

"Lilith said you were going to come up to the house." She replied, brushing her skirt down as she placed herself on the steps of the raised floor, which lead to the pulpit.

"I did," Josiah agreed. "I was hoping to catch you before you made any plans for supper tonight." He remarked putting down the paintbrush full of varnish on to the newspaper he had strewn about to protect the floor and joined her a second later.

"I was going to cook," Audrey shrugged, having not placed that much thought upon it. Josiah sharing supper at their table was so common place that it was something she almost took for granted now. She liked seeing him at the head of the table and knew that Lilith adored seeing him there as well. While he was not her husband and never would be, Josiah in his own way had captured her heart just as intensely. His presence had made her new life in Four Corners so much more than she ever dreamed possible and even though this town seemed to attract trouble like bees to honey, she knew that he alone made all that discourse worth remaining.

"I thought we might go out tonight." He suggested instead. Usually, every penny he saved would go to keeping his sister in the convent at Vesta City but the truth was, he was so well ahead of his payments that he knew that there would be no harm indulging one night out on the town. Besides, Audrey was not his cook. She was a woman whom he cared about deeply and there came a time when a lady needed to know the prose she inspired inside a man’s heart. "Supper at the hotel?"

"That sounds nice," she beamed, liking the idea that he would be taking her out when they did it so rarely. Audrey did not mind of course, aware that he was a man of moderate means and admired him for ensuring that his sister was well taken care off. She was one of two people in Four Corners who knew about Josiah’s sister and felt privileged that he would trust her with that information. "Lily is going to be staying at Gloria’s though."

"Oh?" Josiah glanced at her; unable to deny that he would not mind spending the time alone with her, not that he felt Lilith’s presence was an intrusion. "How come?"

"I thought we might have some time alone to talk." Audrey replied and captured Josiah’s undivided attention with that statement, as there was something in her voice that immediately put him on guard.

"About what?" Josiah asked after a moment, trying to hide the fact that he was burning with curiosity.

"About us." She said with an enigmatic smile that made him swallow the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat. Why was he so bothered about this? They talked all the time about things. Why did she suddenly need privacy?

"What about us?" He faced front, suddenly pre-occupied by a book sitting on one of the pews. Did she intend to end it between them? Is that why she needed to be alone with him? His heart sank at the thought of not having Audrey in his life. He was hardly a young man but even Josiah recognised that he was head over heels in love with the lovely schoolteacher.

Audrey caught the strained expression on his face and was suddenly struck with the realisation that he was mistaken about her intentions. Exceedingly mistaken, in fact about what she had intended to convey to him and wondered how a man so perceptive at times could get it so completely wrong and she did not need to be a school teacher to answer that enigma.

_He was a man._

"Oh Josiah!" Audrey exclaimed. "Its not bad news." She declared and took his face in her hands so that he would look at her and understand. "I just thought we needed to talk about us."

"Us is fine." Josiah said inwardly relieved even though he did not show it as he met her gaze.

"I agree." She said softly and lowered her lips to his with a gentle kiss, which he returned quite readily before pulling back to meet his gaze. "We’ll have the whole house to ourselves tonight Josiah. Gloria is keeping Lilith with her until tomorrow afternoon."

It took a few seconds for Josiah to understand what she was getting at and when he did comprehend that mysterious smile on her face, his eyes widened in nothing less than fear. Swallowing thickly, he drew away from her and stuttered a response. "Are you suggesting that I..." he could not even bring himself to complete that sentence.

"Stay the night." She answered and removed the last vestiges of doubt in his mind regarding his intention.

"Audrey..." Josiah started to answer and once again he was struck with that stammer. "Are you sure.... I mean its a big step...a  _very_  big step."

"Josiah," she smiled with not a shred of doubt or fear in her eyes at what she was alluding. "We are hardly children any more and I want to be with you."

How did women manage to do that? How were they capable of dropping such startling news on a man and yet be capable of remaining so calm and aloof as if they had just made some inconsequential remark about weather?

"I want to be with you too but this is sudden." He answered; trying to keep the turmoil in his stomach from churning to such a state that he needed to throw up. It was not as if he did not want to be with her. Hell yeah, he wanted to spend the night with her and enjoy the bliss of her body just as completely as he enjoyed her soul but it was too soon.

"How is it sudden?" She countered. "We have been seeing quite a bit of each other these past months and it is time we moved on."

"But this ain’t right...." he continued to protest. "You’re a lady and a proper Christian woman. Our union should be sanctified in marriage."

"Now Josiah," she sighed. "I’m not that proper and I know that you’re just trying to protect my honour. My honour is just fine and we’re not having some sordid affair. I love you and I think you love me too. A relationship can’t stay trapped in amber, it has to move on."

"But why now?" He asked, still refusing to believe that what she was offering was purely arbitrary without some deeper intention that he was not yet privy to. "We’ve been doing just fine the way we have been."

"We are fine and this won’t change things," she kissed him again. "This will only make it better. Now I know that you’re protesting out of some desire to protect me and I love you even more for being so honourable but I promise you I want this. You don’t have to worry that I’ll regret it because I know I won’t."

_Oh hell._

Josiah did not know what to say and what was more he did not know how he felt about her offer. He did love her and that much he had realised with complete certainty in the last few minutes. However, it astonished him that she could just come out with something like this and knew that his Audrey did not make such choices lightly, if at all. Something was at work here. There was no way this could be coming from her so blithely unless something else had motivated her to behave this way. He racked his mind in the seconds after she had spoken, waiting for his answer, trying to understand what could have made her come to the conclusion she had when it came to him with a flash.

Lilith.

Lilith had done this. That was no charm she had been making. She had been conjuring again. It was the only thing that could explain Audrey’s aberrant behaviour. He knew Lilith wanted them to get together but this was unforgivable! She had stared him in the face and uttered a bald face lie at making some charm for Billy when all this time she had been conjuring a spell to make her mother want him like this. How could she toy with people’s emotions like that. All this time, Josiah thought he had made some impact on her with his presence but the anger bubbled inside of him at the realisation that he had failed. He could not really be angry at her he supposed, after all it was her desire to see him become a part of her life that had inspired this course of action.

Somehow, he had to talk to Lilith and get her to reverse the spell she had cast on Audrey without letting the lady know that she had been a pawn in a bout of magical conjuring.

"Josiah say something." Audrey spoke up, snapping him out of his ruminations.

Josiah faced her and decided upon his course of action at that instant. "Audrey, if you are sure about this then so am I." He replied placing his hands on her shoulders, hoping that would satisfy her until he was able to lift the spell that had been placed upon her before the time make good on his agreement.

"I am sure." She said firmly. "So why don’t we go to supper at the hotel as planned and let whatever happen next come naturally."

"Okay," Josiah offered her a smile of agreement, determined that by the time supper came along. It would be a matter of making certain that things came about naturally and not because of any magic spell.

* * *

When Audrey finally left Josiah, she made mention of going to town to run some errands prior to heading home which gave the preacher the opening he needed to find the lady’s daughter and question her about what mischief she had caused with that accursed book of magic. Josiah had no doubt that Audrey’s desire to get to know him in the biblical way was no doubt inspired by some love potion that probably found its origins within the Book of Shadows Lilith was so fond of studying. Even though she had promised him never to conjure any of the enchantments contained within it, he had not stopped her from reading the book.

Going to Audrey’s house, he pounded on her door for a few minutes and was greeted with silence, a state of affairs which only served to prove that Lilith was just as absent from her home as Audrey was. As Josiah departed from the schoolteacher’s home before she made a return and had reason to question why he was seeking her daughter with such determination, he wondered where Lilith could be and made his next port of call at the Larabee household. He assumed that Lilith would be at Billy’s side, no doubt offering morale support for the youth’s duel with Ezra Standish.

However, upon arriving at the Larabee household and was greeted with the same quiet as he had at Audrey’s house, Josiah decided that his best bet would probably be the Standish Tavern. After all, he realised after he had left the building that was home to Chris Larabee and the Clarion News and searched all the usual places that she might be that that his best bet would be to wait it out at the saloon for the duel. After all, when Billy arrived there, Lilith would sure to be with him.

The first thing Josiah noticed when he arrived at the establishment was the larger than normal crowds whom appeared as if they were waiting in anticipation for something to happen. He saw Inez behind the bar, offering directions to the bar maids she had recruited to deal with the extra patronage and went to the counter to seek if there was trouble a foot.

"What’s going on?" He asked the sultry Mexican once she was done with the waitresses who scattered around the room to deal with the customers on the floor.

"I don’t know," she said somewhat mystified herself as she started to pour him a drink without his needing to tell her what he wanted. Josiah tipped his hat at her as he picked up his mug of beer and took a sip, grateful for the libations after the morning he had just endured. "I could be wrong but I think they’re here because of Ezra’s card game with Billy."

Josiah raised his brow. "Surely you jest."

And then again after further thought, the notion did not sound so preposterous. How many people here had lost their money to the gambler at one point or another and would not mind seeing the gambler taken down a peg or two? More than Josiah could count. Even if Ezra won his little match with Billy, he was  _still_  going to look ridiculous doing it, to say nothing of the fact of what would actually happen if he lost. Josiah shook his head unable to believe that Ezra had let himself get into a situation like this and then wondered why he was in the least bit surprised, after all, for his sophisticated, polished exterior, the man could behave surprisingly juvenile.

"He’s a brave man." Josiah had to admit.

"Brave is not the word," Inez shook her head in disapproval. "I do not wish to be around when Mary catches him."

"Oh yeah," Josiah remembered that particular minefield that Ezra had stumbled into and grimaced as he envisioned the carnage that would take place when the editor of the Clarion News found out that Ezra was gambling with her son  _again_. "You’d think he’d learnt the first time."

"Not Ezra," Inez remarked, remembering just how furious Mary had been after the incident at the school house where Billy had been caught gambling, thanks to Ezra’s tuition in one aspect of the craft. Mary had stormed into the saloon following her interview with Audrey King who informed her that Billy had won a wealth of lunches because of his skills and spent the next hour screaming at the gambler. Chris Larabee had witnessed the entire incident, unprepared to lift a finger to help one of his men. Not that anyone would expect him to since gambling was not the lesson of choice for an eight-year-old in any one’s opinion.

"This time, it ain’t just Billy that’s going to get grounded for a month." Josiah smiled trying to imagine how Mary would enforce that particular punishment and then thought to himself that if anyone could put the gambler through his paces, it was definitely Mrs Larabee. After all, one did not get to be Mrs Chris Larabee without a certain amount of ingenuity, not to mention enough patience to sink Noah’s Ark in the great flood.

"Well I can live with it." Inez said with a smile. "I would not mind being left to run the saloon on my own without Ezra telling me how to do things."

"He still lording it over you that he now owns the saloon again?" Josiah inquired and bit his lip when he saw the smouldering look in her eyes at being reminded about that particular point.

"Oh every single time he has a chance." She grumbled. "I swear, if she was not one of my dearest friends I could just kill Julia for buying the saloon from Maude for him."

"Some acts of kindness can have grave implications." Josiah said out loud not at all referring to Inez’s situation with the Standish Tavern and Ezra but rather an issue closer to home. He glanced at the clock on the wall and noted that the time was fast approaching for the appointed hour of Ezra’s duel. "Sometimes, one needs to consider whether the outcome is all that terrible." His gazed melted into a place where only he could see and Inez decided she had too much to do now that he afternoon crowd had arrived prematurely to interpret what was on Josiah’s mind at this time.

Following Inez’s departure from the bar, Josiah retired to the table normally occupied by the seven whenever they were present inside the saloon. After awhile, Buck emerged from the kitchen and they had a brief discussion where the big man actually offered some valuable insight into his situation with Josiah having to tell him about the finer points of his predicament. For instance the part about the whole thing with Audrey being brought about by Lilith’s creating some kind of love potion which she used on her mother and him.

For a man who could be just as ridiculously juvenile about things as Ezra Standish, Buck was capable of displaying surprising depth whenever he wanted. He supposed that no one could pull Chris Larabee from the mire of grief following the death of the man’s wife and child without having a lucid understanding about people. Buck had made some interesting insights into his relationship with Audrey and further convinced Josiah that his initial impulse that it was too soon for himself and Audrey to move their relationship to such an intimate level was right. Besides, he did not need the interference of a child to make that decision for him.

Unfortunately, the man who had led him to make this decision was soon running out of the saloon upon hearing the mention of the name ‘Millie’.

* * *

Josiah was getting impatient and he wondered if he was wasting time here when he ought to be on the streets of Four Corners searching for Lilith. Even though the saloon was full and the time was drawing closer and closer for the duel to begin, there was still no sign of Billy and by that same extension, Lilith either. He needed to see her before his supper engagement with Audrey or else things could become exceedingly awkward when he had to explain to the lady that this was not really her will at all but the by product of magic. Further more, he had to explain that this desire for him was no doubt fed to her in the form of some kind of love potion concocted by her daughter.

It sounded so much more plausible when he was thinking it.

"Mr Sanchez is there some reason why you are fidgeting like a five year old?" Ezra asked, having observed the man’s behaviour during the last hour to know that there was  _definitely_  something wrong with the normally at peace preacher. While Josiah had refused to discuss the present trials his relationship with the lovely Mrs King was enduring, Ezra could tell that it still preyed on his mind heavily because Josiah was one of the most laid back people he knew, next to Mr Tanner.

Unless of course you brought up the subject of a wedding, Ezra thought with wicked smile.

"I’m fine." He growled. "When is this thing gonna start?"

"You are referring to my little challenge with young Master Travis?" Ezra looked at him innocently.

"No," Josiah retorted. "I mean the pissing contest you two are playing at because of a woman." He replied with uncharacteristic venom.

"My goodness," Ezra stared at him with some measure of surprise at that kind language coming from the erudite preacher. "You must be singularly preoccupied with a conundrum." The gambler remarked facing front again. "However since the only civilised query I am able to extract from you refers to the game I am playing with young Billy, I am pleased to tell you that the games are about to begin." He tipped his hat in the direction of the bat wing doors.

Josiah sat up immediately and saw Billy entering the room but no sign of Lilith. He watched the young boy meander through the bodies of the room and realised that there would be no little blond girl with sun streaked hair in attendance. Letting out a groan of frustration at her absence and realising he was fast running out of time, Josiah let out a short growl and left the table without saying a word to Ezra. The gambler barely noticed his departure since the man was too busy ignoring the jibes and sneers rippling throughout the room regarding his match with an eight-year-old.

Josiah spent the rest of the afternoon searching for Lilith without much success and when he did get a lead on her, it was usually a few minutes after the child had departed. The preacher was starting to wonder if Lilith’s love potion involved some vanishing spell as well. Finally, he came to the unhappy conclusion that he had no choice but to confront Audrey and tell her the truth. As much as he hated revealing Lilith’s secret to her, he had no other alternative. Audrey was not acting on her own volition and he would not take advantage of her.

Their supper engagement was still a few hours away when Josiah turned up at Audrey’s door, hoping he could just phrase this right so that he would not insult her. The last thing he wanted to do was to make Audrey think that he did not want to be with her because he surely did. However, he refused to take advantage of her because of a spell that had no right being. If he had been able to find Lilith it would have made things less complicated. However, he had to face up to the fact that even if he did find the young girl, she might not be able to undo what she had done in time to make Audrey change her mind.

"Josiah, what a surprise." Audrey said as she swung the door and found herself facing him.

"Audrey I need to speak to you." Josiah asked as he stood by her doorway, hat in hand feeling like a condemned man about to step up to the hangman’s noose.

The expression on his face immediately brought worry lines to hers and she gestured him to enter, apprehensive about the reason for his sudden arrival when they were due to have supper in a few short hours. Josiah said nothing as he followed her into the house, aware that she was just as concerned about his statement as he had been earlier when she had made similar remarks about needing to talk.

"What’s wrong Josiah?" She turned around and faced him once they were inside the confines of her parlour. "Is it because of what I said this morning?" She asked, wondering if her forwardness had frightened him off. Had she misjudged him that badly?

"No," he shook his head and placed his hands on her shoulders, not wanting her to get the idea that he was upset about that at all. It was not her fault how she was behaving. It was the love potion. "Audrey, it’s got nothing to do with that." He paused a moment, knowing that was not exactly true and began again. "Well it is, but not in the way you think."

"You don’t think I’m a wanton do you?" She asked, horrified that her intimate offering might be construed as the actions of an immoral. Audrey was afraid that this might happen, after all he  _was_  a preacher once.

"Of course not!" Josiah exclaimed, mortified that she could even think such a thing. "I would never think that!"

"Oh thank goodness," she let out a sigh of relief. "For a moment, I was really worried that you being a former man of the cloth and all...."

"No," he shook his head so that she would dispel the notion out of her mind for good. "I think what you have offered me is something special that I will look forward to accepting one day when you are making that choice of your own free will."

Audrey looked at him sharply. "My own free will?" She knotted her brow in confusion as she raised those pools of azure coloured eyes to his. "What do you mean Josiah?"

He took a deep breath and cleared his throat, preparing to launch himself into the explanation he had rehearsed in his mind over and over again during the walk here. "Audrey do you believe in things unseen?"

She considered the question even though she was still rather confused at its relevance at the moment. "Well yes," she nodded. "That’s the basis of faith is not? To believe in things that aren’t tangible in a real world sense."

"Okay," he exhaled once again. "Then you have to believe that there are forces that exist in the world that may not make sense but do exist even though we’ve been taught not to believe in them."

"Josiah," Audrey placed her hands on her hips and stared at him impatiently. "What are you talking about?"

"Magic." Josiah declared, deciding there was no proper way to word this except in the most direct manner. "Do you believe in magic?"

"The whole world is magic Josiah," Audrey retorted. "There is magic in the beauty of things, in the stars up in the sky, at the smile of a baby. Those things are magic."

"No you don’t understand," he sighed with a hint of frustration. "I’m talking about real magic. The kind that makes witches fly on brooms and pulls rabbits out of hats. I’m talking about spells and enchantments."

Audrey’s eyes widened. "Do you believe in these things?" She asked tentatively.

Obviously, she did not know Josiah Sanchez quite as well as she originally thought.

"Yes I do," he answered truthfully. "I never used to but now I do and you’ve got to believe me when I say to you that offering yourself to me is  _not_  something you wanted to do. It was because of some love spell or maybe even a potion that was given to you to make you think that you wanted to be with me." There, he said it and waited in anticipation for an answer as she stared at him with an expression on her face that he could not quite fathom.

"You’re saying someone put a spell on me to induce me to invite you into my bed tonight?" Audrey asked slowly.

"Yes," he nodded sombrely, waiting for a more telling reaction other than this cool, deliberate question and this impenetrable mask on her face that was unreadable. "You’re not doing this because you want to, you’re doing this because you’re under some kind of enchantment."

"Enchantment." She nodded, as if trying to absorb the information Josiah had just imparted to her.

He could not blame her of course. It was not everyday a person was told that everything they accepted about the worlds was false and even their own actions were suspect when magic could easily manipulate them into perpetrating an act that was completely alien to their normal behaviour.

"And who put this enchantment on me?" She probed further.

Now Josiah had reason to pause because he had not wanted to bring Lilith’s name into it but could not see how he could avoid it now that he had mentioned the spell. Perhaps, telling her the truth might allow Audrey to provide some insight on how they could reverse the effects of the incantation. Or at the very least, Audrey might know where Lilith was.

"I’m afraid it was Lilith." Josiah answered after a momentary pause.

"Lilith put a love spell on me?" Audrey asked.

"She’s been fooling around with that book for some time and she doesn’t mean to cause harm," Josiah quickly spoke up in the young girl’s defence. After all, what she had done was out of love for both of them, not in malice. "I think she just wanted to get us together."

"I see." The lady nodded, once again slipping into that enigmatic place where what she was thinking became a riddle he could not unravel.

"I guess she wanted us to be a family and got tired of waiting." Josiah tried to explain. "You have to believe me that more than anything I wanted to get closer to you but this is not you and I won’t take advantage of the situation when you are not clearly in your right mind."

"Well," Audrey let out a deep breath and a humourless smile crossed her lips. "I guess that would not be right if I came to this decision because of some love potion that addled my brain."

It was at this point that it began to dawn on Josiah that perhaps, he was in trouble. "Audrey....."

"Don’t Audrey me!" She roared. "If you did not want to sleep with me, all you had to do was say so Josiah Sanchez!"

"No!" Josiah exclaimed horrified realising that he had just aimed his oarless boat up a creek with a very, very big drop. "That’s not true! I do want to sleep with you!"

"Oh course you do!" She shouted back in nothing less than fury. "You know of all the excuses you could have come up with, that has to be in my opinion, the worst one I have ever heard in my entire life! It just so happens Mr Sanchez that I am not under the influence of any love potion, enchantment, spell or whatever the hell you want to call it! Not at all! I wanted to sleep with you because I care for you deeply, not because I’m under the influence of some magic trick!"

"But...but...Lilith...!"

"What about my Lily?" She glared at him with eyes burning with blue fire, not at all lessened in intensity. "How dare you use my daughter for such a pathetic excuse! Lilith is a little strange and she has a penchant for books that are less than orthodox but how dare you accuse my child of being some kind of....of....witch!"

"But it’s true!" Josiah cried frantically. "She created a love potion!"

"A love potion!" Audrey rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Will you listen to yourself! You’re talking about a nine year old for God sakes!" She started to turn away from him.

"Audrey," he caught her arm, trying desperately to convince her that he was not stark, raving mad because she sure as hell was looking at him like he was a lunatic. "I swear to you, everything I said is true. Lilith is a very powerful magician. Its really quite amazing!"

"You just don’t give up do you?" Audrey cried out disgusted. "I refuse to let you slander my child any further! If you cannot deal with commitment of progressing our relationship along then I am afraid I did not know you as well as I thought!"

"Audrey that’s not true!" Josiah protested as she turned on her heels and stormed out of the parlour. "I do want to be with you!"

"Well you have a funny way of showing it!" She said finally before disappearing into her bedroom and ending their discussion with the hard slam of door mere inches away from his face.

Josiah was aghast and unable to believe that she had taken it so badly. He thought she might be upset but even he had not fathom just how upset she was going to be about this. This was all Lilith’s fault and he had just made things worst by telling Audrey that. Worst of all, he had not the slightest clue as to how to make things right between them and wondered if things could deteriorate any further.

"Hello Josiah." A youthful voice immediately sliced through his thoughts as he stood outside Audrey’s door. "What’s going on?"

Josiah’s gaze moved sharply at the hallway and found Lilith staring at him oddly, trying to discern what it was he was doing there.

"Lilith!" Josiah strode immediately towards her. "What did you do?"

Lilith looked at him blankly. "Do?"

"You cast some crazy love potion on your ma, didn’t you?" He accused. His anger was up and he knew he should not be so cross with Lilith but the scene that just took place had justified his response.

"Love potion?" Lilith started to stammer, unable to comprehend what Josiah was taking about as the big man came to a stop before her and towered over the little girl like a glowering giant. "I didn’t cast any love potion." She replied.

"Now Lilith," Josiah calmed himself down before he said something he would regret. "Now I saw you this morning with all that stuff you were supposed to make for a lucky charm. It was not, was it?"

Guilt crossed Lilith’s features mostly because she hated lying to Josiah about it and it appeared the truth was needed to clear up this particular misunderstanding. "No it wasn’t." She admitted reluctantly.

"Then what was it?" He asked satisfied that he was right and even more so when she told him the truth.

"It was a love spell but it didn’t work." Lilith confessed. "I didn’t have all the stuff I needed cause I didn’t want to find a frog and put its eyes out."

"It must have worked Lilith," Josiah pointed out, glad she had not blinded some poor amphibian nonetheless. "Your ma has been acting...." he paused to rephrase his words carefully in order to make it suitable for a minor audience. "Differently."

"But the spell wasn’t cast!" Lilith exclaimed and then added. "And it was not for you and ma. It was for me and Billy."

Josiah merely stared at her.

"What do you mean?" He demanded. Suddenly, an ominously sick feeling was starting to rise up his gullet like bile.

"I didn’t give ma any love potion! I wouldn’t do that to you or ma! I did it for me and Billy and it couldn’t work because I didn’t have all the stuff I needed to finish the spell off. I swear Josiah, I didn’t do anything to you or ma! Not after the last time!"

During her last conjuring, Lilith’s spell had caused Audrey to be killed and Josiah knew that she was telling the truth because the experience of being without her mother had been fearful enough without his having to hold her to that promise of dabbling in their lives again. Which mean that everything that took place today had no enchantment attached to it and Audrey’s desire to be with him....

_Oh hell!_

Josiah swore under his breath and immediately hurried to Audrey’s door once again "Audrey, I’m sorry. I didn’t know what I was talking about! I made a mistake!"

"No I made the mistake!" Audrey’s voice wailed through the door back at him. "You’re just afraid of commitment Josiah!"

Josiah let his hang bang against the door and groaned. "No I’m not afraid of commitment! I want to be with you! I just thought....."

"You thought that the only way I could want to be with you is through a stupid love spell!" Audrey cried out. "I don’t know what’s worse, the reason that you came up with such an excuse or the fact that you think I’d actually believe such a ridiculous story!"

Lilith listened to the grovelling and pleading for another ten minutes, unable to keep from thinking that adults could be very strange as Josiah continued to beg her mother about ‘being with her’ though Lilith felt there was something about that sentence she was missing completely. Finally, the young girl decided that she had better things to do then witness Josiah and her mother engaged in their weird games and remembered that she had to spend the night at Gloria Potters and went to get ready for the sleep over.

She had no idea what Josiah and her ma had planned for the evening as she collected her things for the night away from home but had no doubt that it would involve a lot of apologising if her ma’s screaming was anything to go by.

A hell of a lot of apologising.


	9. Round Table Talks

 

After the day before, Chris Larabee was more than happy to join his friends within the confines of the Standish Tavern where most of the seven with the exception of JD and Nathan was present at their usual table. Vin had been the last to arrive having just returned from Coventry to which he had accompanied Alex when her services as a physician was required at the convent situated outside the town. The day was meandering towards midday with patrons starting to fill the establishment for the popular lunchtime menu to which Inez was presently in the kitchen preparing, while Rain patrolled the fortifications of the bar, serving drinks to thirsty customers in the meantime.

"I’m telling you," Buck grumbled as he continued to relate the nightmare he had been forced to endure the evening before. "It was the worst night of my life. I thought the time that I got sick on rotgut and chilli in Purgatorio where I spent the whole night puking my guts out could never be topped but last night....." he merely shook his head in disbelief at the ordeal of the night before.

"Thank you Mr Wilmington," Ezra Standish winced as he pictured that image in his mind. "I think you have cured me for the need to have an afternoon repast." The gambler replied before taking a sip from his glass of whisky as if to wash the taste from his mouth.

"What are you complaining about?" Chris retorted remembering the incident all too well. "You weren’t the one who had to hold his head down so he wouldn’t drown in vomit."

"Oh please!" Ezra protested as he was bombarded with that disgusting picture as well. "What are you two trying to do, make me similarly nauseated?"

"So you had Inez and Millie under the same roof all evening?" Vin asked, changing the subject much to the gratitude of the gambler.

"Yeah," Buck nodded. "Millie told Inez how I had been running around all day trying to avoid her."

"That was indeed a sight to behold." Ezra commented, taking great relish in imparting his account of events in gratitude of Buck’s charming visual description earlier of his night in Purgatory. "Lawman Buck Wilmington, running for dear life with a gun in one hand and an infant’s bassinette in the other."

"Very funny!" Buck muttered as the three men around him started to laugh out loud, making no attempt to hide their amusement at the sight that must have been. "What was worse, they spent the rest of night talking about personal stuff.

"Personal stuff?" Vin looked at the big man in question.

"Yeah," Buck nodded. "Personal stuff about how I did certain things around the house...."

"And around the bedroom right?" Chris did not need to hear the rest and continued to chuckle. "Think of this way, if they all got together they could write a book about you."

"I’m glad you’re finding this so amusing," Buck glared at his old friend through narrowed eyes. "You’re not the one who had two women discussing which dimple about they liked best and I’m not talking about the one on my face!"

All that statement managed to do was produce another round of riotous laughter around the table as Buck’s cheeks reddened in embarrassment at the lack of sympathy from his so called friends. "Can we please change the subject?"

"Hey we ain’t the one who brought it up." Vin said swallowing a mouthful of beer. "So you get what you needed doing at Sweet Water all right pard?" The tracker looked at the gunslinger.

"Yeah," Chris nodded, issuing a patented Larabee glare at Vin to not bring up the details of what that shopping venture in Sweet Water was about lest the man wanted to wake up and find himself shaved bald. "I ran into some old friends who needed a little mediation."

"Mediation?" Ezra inquired, hardly seeing Chris Larabee as some one who could play negotiator unless it was with the gun and that infamous sneer that promised threat to life and limb to all parties concerned.

"Yeah," Chris shrugged, having no desire to discuss Gunderson and the rest of his inept gang. "I sorted it out. The ones who ain’t dead are sitting in the jailhouse."

"Trust you to turn a shopping trip into a gunfight." Buck remarked. "Is Mary okay?" He asked.

"She didn’t notice a thing." Chris said with a smile. "She was more interested in shopping then what I was doing. What about you Vin?" He looked at the tracker. "Everything go down okay in Coventry?"

"Yeah," the tracker nodded with something of an enigmatic expression on his face that only Chris was adept enough to catch. "Weather got a bit much though." Vin confessed.

"Yes I would imagine," Ezra nodded in agreement. "We got a mere smattering of it in town but judging by those clouds it must have been quite violent in the vicinity to Coventry."

"Pretty much," Vin did not try to hide that fact remembering what he and Alex had gone through trying to reach Coventry. "The ferry across the river decided to break up when we were on it so both of us took a swim."

"Shit." Buck declared. "I guess you weren’t hurt right?"

"No but Alex got the hell scared out of her," Vin admitted. "Didn’t help much that we got caught in a land slide after but it worked out fine when we got to the convent and got cleaned up and married, not to mention a warm bed."

The three men with him were in various stages of drinking when they paused and looked at the tracker.

"Would you care to repeat that last statement Mr Tanner?" Ezra said glancing at the others to ensure that they had heard the same thing as he had from the sharpshooter.

"Well we got caught in a landslide." Vin repeated innocently.

"After that!" Buck insisted.

"Oh, you mean getting to the convent?" The tracker knew he was being a little evasive but could not help enjoy taunting his friends a little. After all, considering all the good advice he had been given about weddings of late, he felt justified in torturing them just a little in return.

"About getting _married_." Chris growled.

"Oh that?" Vin allowed a little smile to cross his lips. "Yeah, well there was a priest and we didn’t really want to sleep in separate rooms after the day we had so I thought what the hell. By the way Ez, Alex really liked that ring you help me pick out."

"You sly dog!" Buck slapped him on the back. "How long was it gonna take you to tell us!"

"Just a little while longer." Vin grinned as congratulations were made all around from his friends.

"Trust you to put a lady through an ordeal like that an expect her to just marry you at the end of the day, Mr Tanner." Ezra retorted and then decided it was just like Vin to take care of such a momentous day in his life in such a manner.

"Congratulations pard," Chris extended a hand towards Vin who shook it warmly. "You’re a lucky man She’s quite something."

"That she is." Buck agreed and raised his glass to make a toast. "To Mr and Mrs Tanner, God help them both."

"Hear, hear," Ezra raised his glass to join in when suddenly Josiah Sanchez burst through the door covered in flower petals and a stem protruding for his hat. The expression on his face was nothing less than stormy and he went to Rain and ordered himself a drink, drawing a wide-eyed response from everyone who saw him. Fortunately, no one was quite brave enough to ask him to explain his present dishevelled state. Grabbing his mug of beer, his friends saw him approaching the table looking like a bear with a thorn in its foot.

"Morning." Josiah sat down and let his eyes move over their astonished expressions, daring anyone to ask.

"Everything all right Josiah?" Buck finally broke the silence.

"I’m going to say this only once," Josiah looked at them with a deep rumble to his voice that sounded like the tremors of a particularly violent volcano preparing to erupt if offered the proper provocation. "I...do....not...want....to.....talk.....about.....it."

"Fine." Chris answered.

"No problem." Buck replied automatically.

"None of my business." Vin shrugged.

"Absolutely Mr Sanchez." Ezra made the same safe response.

"Hey everybody." Nathan Jackson had managed to slip through the doors of the saloon while everyone had been focussed on Josiah’s entry into the establishment, trailing destroyed flowers in his wake.

"Nathan!" Rain exclaimed as she saw him and immediately forgot that she was serving a customer and quickly emerged from behind the bar to meet the healer with a warm embrace and an even warmer kiss of greeting.

"The man of the hour!" Ezra exclaimed as the lovers exchanged affections openly and without a care in the world if the saloon was watching their display.

Earlier that morning, Chris Larabee had received a telegram from Sheriff Brooks, informing him that Nathan had been instrumental is solving the murders in Hadley’s Hope. None of them was surprised that Nathan would miss the most important exams of his life in order to help George Brooks because it was just the person that Nathan was. There was no way he could turn his back on people who needed help and made those who considered him their friend, feel all the more privileged for having him in their lives. Josiah who had no idea what was going on was soon appraised of the situation from Vin and was soon joining the others in their appreciation of Nathan’s efforts in the town of Hadley’s Hope.

"I’m guessing you heard about what happened in Hadley’s Hope huh?" Nathan asked, somewhat embarrassed by all the attention as he came to their table with his arm still around Rain.

"We are very proud of you Nathan." She said what the others would not express with as much feeling.

"Good work," Chris tipped his hat towards the healer as he pulled away from Rain to take a seat. The lady flashed him a radiant smile and returned to the bar, with every intention of bringing her love a drink.

"Thanks," Nathan smiled. "The exam people were pretty good about me not getting there. So I have to go back next week and do it again."

"Hopefully you won’t get side tracked this time." Vin drawled.

"Well I think we ought to raise a glass to our very own sleuth." Ezra remarked and lifted his glass again, beckoning the others to do the same.

"Seems to be the day for it and all," Buck added. "What with you solving the case in Hadley’s Hope and Vin getting married."

"Vin got _married_?" Both Nathan and Josiah said in unison as they stared at the tracker, who merely shrugged.

"It’s been one of  _those_  days." Buck confessed. "I don’t think it can get much stranger than this."

Buck spoke too soon.

"WHERE IS THAT SMOOTH TALKING, LYING, LOW DOWN CARD PLAYING NITWIT!"

"Oh Ezra," Buck said in a sing song voice following a series of loud expletives which had every man in the room ever so grateful that the source of that typhoon was  _not_  coming for them. "I think Mary has found out about your little card game with Billy."

Ezra’s face went white as he heard the lady’s angry footsteps approaching the bat wing doors of the saloon. 

"Mr Larabee....." Ezra glanced at Chris in pure helplessness.

"Don’t even think about it." Chris said firmly, not even looking up as he continued to drink his beer, seemingly unconcerned about Ezra’s situation. "I have to live with that."

"Come on Mary," Julia Pemberton’s voice followed swiftly behind the ominous advance of the Clarion News’s editor in chief to the saloon doors. "He didn’t mean to do it and it wasn’t as if he was playing poker or teaching him how to play craps! It was go fish!"

"Julia do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds?" The unseen Mrs Larabee turned on the unseen Miss Pemberton before they reached the doors, much to the horror of Ezra whose face was turning beet red with mortification. "You expect me to believe my son challenged Ezra Standish to a card game and that Ezra being the adult that he was, not to mention southern gentlemen he confesses to be, did not have the sense to turn it down?"

"It was point of honour!" Julia exclaimed as Ezra sunk lower and deeper into his chair and wished the floor would swallow him up. Around him,  _no one_  was keeping their sniggers from turning into peals of bawdy laughter.

"Oh please, how much honour can there be for a grown man to accept the challenge of an eight year old child for a woman!" Mary returned.

"Trust me," Julia said in a low voice, smouldering with chagrin at having to defend her lover. "I’m trying to understand that _myself_."

By now, everyone at the table, with the notable exception of Ezra was ready to split their sides with the growing absurdity of the situation. Even Chris was openly laughing and Inez had been drawn out of the kitchen to investigate the storm that was brewing outside the room. Ezra had started to get up, deciding this would be a fortuitous time to make an exit when he felt both Josiah and Buck’s hand on either shoulder.

"I don’t think so Ez," Chris said with a smug smile. "I think you need to sit this hand in."

"But Mr Larabee!" Ezra protested as Mary burst into the room and allowed her blue grey eyes to scan the room for her quarry with Julia following closely behind, trying to convince her that murder was a capital crime.

"There you are!" She hissed and stormed over to him with every man at the table moving their chairs a little bit of an inch or two away from Ezra, leaving him surrounded in an island of space. The gambler had never felt more alone or vulnerable as he stared at the face of Hurricane Mary.

"Now Mrs Larabee...." Ezra started to stammer, searching for the charm that was his only weapon of defence at the moment. "You must believe me that there was an extremely good explanation for what happened with young Master Travis."

"Really?" Mary folded her arms as Julia offered Ezra a look of utter sympathy as well as apology that it was now in the hands of God for she could do nothing more for him. "I for one should be very interested in hearing that explanation. No doubt it will be extremely illuminating and would go a lengthy way to convincing me why you should not be EVISCERATED!"

Ezra looked around at the faces watching this exchange and saw no help forthcoming. Of course, he could hardly blame them for staying out of the firing line. Not even Chris Larabee was about to incur Mary’s wrath. Only divine intervention could get him out of this predicament now.

JD Dunne burst through the doors at that precise moment.

He was wearing no shoes, no shirt; the upper portion of his long johns was exposed beneath pants that were buttoned up all wrong in the front. He swallowed hard as he paused a moment, covered with sweat and more terrified than any of the seven had ever seen him in all the time of their acquaintance. The youth’s lingering was no more than a second before he was off and running again, clutching his hat to his head as he raced through the establishment and fairly leapt behind the bar counter like a jack rabbit.

"John Dunne, you get back here!" The roar of Nettie Wells filled the room, followed by a plaintive squeal by Casey.

"Don’t shoot him Aunt Nettie!" The young girl cried out.

"This just gets better." Nathan remarked and sat up in his chair as they saw the lady and her niece burst into the room. Nettie was carrying a double barrel shot gun as she strode into the saloon as if hell riding with her. It was the angriest that anyone had seen Nettie, ever and the presence of a gun made Chris and Buck get to their feet immediately to investigate, especially when it appeared that her quarry was the terrified Mr Dunne.

A second after Nettie’s dramatic entrance into the saloon, Alexandra Styles arrived at the Standish Tavern and upon seeing the doctor, Casey immediately turned to her. "Alex you gotta talk to her!" The young woman cried out frantically. "She’s going to kill him!"

"Nettie, calm down." The doctor hurried after the older woman who was searching for JD, certain that she had seen him enter the establishment a few minutes ago. Nettie was beyond reason as she clutched the formidable looking weapon, seeing nothing else except JD.

"Calm down my ass!" Nettie snapped at the doctor as Chris and Buck met up with the armed woman.

"What’s going on?" Chris demanded and cast a glance at Rain who was looking mystified as she saw JD cowering fear behind her bar counter and for that matter, behind her.

"That boy....." Nettie sputtered in rage as her eyes burned with fury. "He...he...." She could not even say it for being so angry. The image of what she had seen prior to this explosion of rage was burned into memory and she was far from thinking clearly.

"It wasn’t his fault!" Casey cried out trying to convince Nettie that it had all been her idea. "I wanted to!"

"You mean JD and you were....." Buck’s eyes widened in astonishment as he began to understand the reason for JD’s appearance and Nettie’s fury. As the realisation dawned on everyone else, all six men looked at the direction of the bar where JD was hiding himself and decided the young man had a  _very_  good reason for concealment.

"Our boy’s all grown up." Buck started to grin.

"This is not helping Buck!" Alex hissed. "The woman has a gun!"

"Of course." Buck’s expression became serious again for about a second before that damnable grin crossed his features that was more incendiary to Nettie’s state of mind than her unexpectedly coming home early to catching her niece and her beau letting nature take its course in the girl’s bedroom.

"Now JD, you got to get out here." Buck called out, deciding that it was best to sort this thing out.

"Like hell I will!" JD cried out from behind the bar.

"JD." Chris tried instead and spoke in  _that voice_  which no one; not even Vin had the courage to defy. "Come out now."

Slowly, JD emerged from behind the bar, looking like a rabbit that was caught in a hunter’s sights, ever mindful of the gun that Nettie was holding. The youth looked extremely nervous, not to mention terribly embarrassed that his tryst with Casey could become so public. Fortunately, he was put at a little more at ease when he saw Alex sneak up behind Nettie and retrieve the shotgun before she handed it to Vin, who held onto it for safe keeping and for JD’s continued existence.

"Without going into the details," Chris measured his words carefully. "What happened?"

"You have to ask?" Buck looked at him.

Chris glared at his old friend with a stare that could have ignited him on the spot before taking a deep breath and realising that he really did not have to ask since it was quite obvious what had taken place. "Nettie, they’re just kids and you know how they are." It was not much of an excuse but Chris had no idea how to proceed with something like this.

"It ain’t proper!" Nettie swore angrily, not about to put anything down to youthful discretion. "I will deal with Casey later but JD needs to account for himself."

"How?" Buck demanded, putting a protective arm around JD who was humiliated enough by this entire situation. "It ain’t something that can be changed. It’s a done deed."

"Except the usual way." Mary remarked reluctantly, more aware than anyone what needed to be done.

"The usual way?" Everyone looked at her.

Nettie caught on first. "They’re too young!"

"Well not _that_ young." Buck started to say when he caught on. Inez who had come up next to him during the exchanged promptly elbowed her husband in the side and cut off any glib remark he had to say.

"Too young for what?" JD finally found his voice.

"Marriage." Ezra responded. "Mr Dunne, I do believe it is time you made some honourable recompense for last evenings occupations."

"Last evening?" JD looked at him confused. "We’ve been at it since lunch...."

Nettie’s face became darker, Mary smacked her forehead, Alex rolled her eyes and Chris decided he was going home. Buck just grinned wider.

"JD," Vin said helpfully. "Shut up."

"Well that’s seems the proper thing to do...." Nettie frowned staring at her guilty niece and her soon to be nephew in law. She was not happy about the situation but Mary was right. There was not much else that could be done. "But it’s going to be a  _long_  engagement." She insisted.

"But Aunt Nettie....." Casey started to protest, uncertain whether she wanted to marry JD. She knew she loved him but marriage...well that was really  _big_. JD was giving her the same look of uncertainty.

"Now would be a good time to be quiet." Alex offered her new husband’s warning to the young lady.

"Well this is just shaping up to be a very strange day." Buck let out a deep sigh. "First Vin gets married and now looks like our little boy’s gonna be a husband." He ruffled JD’s hair and engendered a deep frown from the youth.

"Married?" Inez turned to Alex sharply. "You two are married?"

"When did you two get married?" The second demand came from Mary.

"Well..." Alex started to explain. "We thought...."

"And you didn’t even tell us? Your best friends?" Julia accused just as hotly.

"How could you do that to us Alexandra Styles..sorry  _Mrs Tanner_ ," Rain said sarcastically. "You did not even give us the chance for a bridal shower, or even let us to throw you a celebration..."

"And cake!" Mary declared.

"Why am I not surprised  _that_  would come from you." Chris remarked, giving his wife a look.

Eventually, they came to the decision that JD and Casey would announce their engagement, even though it would be a rather lengthy one as that was the only way Nettie would accept the situation save filling JD full of lead. In the meantime, Alex spent the next week listening to jibes and sarcastic remarks about keeping her wedding a secret from her close friends and Josiah after much pleading and grovelling, managed to convince Audrey that he was not afraid of commitment.

And Ezra sneaked out during the confusion and was not seen for the rest of the week.

 

**THE END**

 


End file.
